Hoenn Chronicles
by Rizu Komesu
Summary: In the region of Hoenn, amazing adventures are to be had with the trainer Alexa, her rival Greg and the pokemon they travel with. Little do they know that the real story lies within the unexplored world of their pokemon! Rated for Language and Violence
1. I'm Alexa

At long last, the ride was over. The light pouring into the back of the truck almost blinded me as Dad finally opened the heavy steel doors, "We're finally here, Lexi! Come out and see our new house!"

"Don't need to tell me twice, Dad!" Eagerly I jumped out of that god-forsaken vehicle and onto the ground. You'd be desperate to leave too if you were stuck in there with nothing but a flashlight and a book for three hours.

When the Vigoroth Dad had brought with us began to unload the van, there was a critical moment of silence where Dad and I stared at each other; the wind was blowing around on that sunny day as if to increase the dramatic tension of that moment. And then...

"Dibs on bathroom!"

Both of us had shouted that at the same time before we sprinted for the door, Dad having to shove one of the Vigoroth out of the way so that he could keep up. We made a competition out of almost everything and I have to admit it was a lot of fun, but I really had to go! No way was I going to lose this one to him!

In that final stretch for the bathroom I managed to get in front of him and into the sanctuary that we both strived for. A groan left Dad as I grinned at him before he closed the door for me so that he could wait in his most recent defeat.

When we had both taken our turns in the bathroom, we sat down at opposite ends of the table and began to pig out on the lunches we each had (Dad had a foot-long submarine sandwich and I had two double-cheeseburgers). But, halfway through his sandwich he stopped, looking at me with darkened eyes.

"What's wrong, Dad? You not hungry?" That was the basic gist of what I said, my mouth was still full with gooey cheese and well-done meat after all. He seemed to understand me though.

"Alexa," Shit, that wasn't a nickname. That caused me to swallow hard, he only ever used that name and tone of voice when he was mad at me (or worse, disappointed in me) or wanted to talk about something very serious. It was something I never wanted to hear, it always made me think I had done something to upset him...

"You didn't do anything and you've really got to stop jumping to conclusions like that."

"Hey! Mind Reader for psychic pokémon only, I thought we went over that!" We both had a laugh at my comment, along with that laugh came reduced tension for the moment, "You can't blame me for thinking that, Dad. You only use that tone with my real name if I'm in trouble or you want to talk about something seriously."

"Well, Lexi... this is serious, at least to me it is," Dad sighed and closed his eyes while I took a sip from the soda provided for me when I got the double-cheeseburgers. Just what was so serious that it earned the merit of my real name rather than the nickname Dad always used for me? "I'm leaving for Petalburg Gym today, so really I'm worried about how you'll do here on your own. It would really put me at ease if you kept one of the Vigoroth here."

"Dad, not this again! Those things are way too protective over me," I groaned at him the moment he mentioned those pokémon, but then I really felt that I had a point. The last time they had 'watched over me' after all, I couldn't even get out of the house because they were guarding the doors. Granted, it was past my curfew, but that was beyond the point!

"Don't give me that, you're the one who's always getting into trouble. That's why they might seem like they're over protective," Damn it, he read my mind again. Why was it that parents had the automatic ability to do that? It wasn't fair! "I trained those Vigoroth myself, Lexi. That's why I can trust them with being here to make sure you don't get yourself into trouble."

"Dad, that's exactly why they shouldn't be here!" I got a puzzled look from dad in response to those words; apparently I was going to have to explain myself for it, "They're pokémon you raised, they're your pokémon because of it! I need my own pokémon to train, I can't rely on you for the rest of my life; I'm not a little kid anymore!"

Again, there was silence between Dad and me as we stared at each other; honestly we needed a knife to cut the tension. It wasn't at all like before when we were in a race for the bathroom; I had no idea how he was going to react to my opinion on the matter. Dad and I had this chat before, it always ended with him saying no to my becoming a trainer. How would this time be any-

"I can't really argue with you there, Lexi," The shock from those words made me numb as I just stared at him, was he serious? "It's inevitable, you going off on your own and becoming a trainer. Might as well start now, and I happen to know that Professor Birch lives right here in Littleroot. Why don't we talk to him about you getting started as a pokémon trainer?"

"You're serious, Dad?" He nodded at me with a weak smile, "I can finally have my own pokémon?" He nodded at me again. That was when I jumped away from the table and started to run for the door, "Well, last one to Birch's house is a rotten egg!"

"Lexi, you forgot your food!"

"Uhm... right," Sheepishly I grinned while Dad laughed at me, in my excitement I forgot that I still had another double-cheeseburger to finish. When I sat back down I gave Dad a thumbs up before saying one last thing, "Okay, food first! Then, last one to Birch's house is a rotten egg!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Un. Believable.

The goddamn Torchic and Mudkip I had spent the last three months with were gone. Three long and agonizing months of their cheerfulness and annoying pranks, and it was finally over! It was like a dream, and yet it wasn't a dream. They had been picked by trainers and I hadn't, could things get any better?

I sighed at the artificial forest inside of my pokéball, before now the familiar solitude was my only sanctuary from those accursed pokémon. Because I was the only one not taken in by a trainer though, I had a feeling I'd be seeing a lot more of my miniature prison. That was a downer... but, I guessed the peace and quiet would be enjoyable for a little while at least.

My thoughts were short-lived though as, rather roughly, I was pulled out of my pokéball to stare at Trunk, who at the moment was surrounded by three growling Poochyena.

Okay, let me explain. Trunk is my name for the guy who took care of me (along with Mudkip and Torchic), honestly he's a human. Who's built like a tree; bulky, has quite a few muscles actually, but no shape to him whatsoever. So, that's the reason for the nickname, now back to our regularly scheduled program.

That was a human saying. No idea where I picked it up from but it seemed appropriate.

Back to Trunk, who was covering his head with his hands while the Poochyena began to head butt him relentlessly. So, he was over there, so just who had let me out of the pokéball to begin with? Turning to see the girl behind me, I almost regretted doing so. Trunk had no shape but this girl was more like a twig. Thin, softly-defined muscles on her arms and legs, but not enough to really give her a shape in my opinion. Even worse than some of the kids who had tried to take me in the previous day. And then, she was shouting an order at me, what was she saying?

"Treecko, use Pound on those Poochyena!"

I almost wanted to laugh at her confidence. She honestly expected me to go into battle at her every whim? Slowly I turned back to the pokémon attacking Trunk, did I really want to get head first into that? _Let's see... three against one. And those puppy pokémon seem really pissed. Like hell I'm going head first into a suicide battle._

I blankly turned back to the girl who was looking at me in confusion, as if she thought I didn't understand the command. As if I was stupid. Hah. We'd see just who the stupid one was.

"Let me think... I'm not doing it."

I shook my head at her while I spoke those words, even if I knew that she wouldn't understand the repetitive use of different syllables in my name. My shaking my head must have been enough though; she looked shocked about my disobeying her orders. Served her right, I couldn't help but smirk a little then. I have to think for myself, I'm not getting myself injured when there's nothing in it for me.

The girl sighed at me before shaking her head and rolling up her sleeves. Just what the heck was she up to? It confused me a bit but that was remedied by her next action; she ran at the Poochyena and started to fight with them herself in an attempt to scare them away.

It was a very interesting thing to see, the girl brawling with the yapping mutts until they decided among themselves that harassing Trunk wasn't worth dealing with a psychotic human. Said human was lying on the ground and breathing heavily from the fight, Trunk having recovered from his own blows and beginning to tend to the claw and bite marks on the girl's body. I didn't get worried over whether or not she was okay; it wasn't any of my concern anyway. But, to myself I honestly had to admit...

I was impressed.

A lot of beginning trainers had tried to take me in when Mudkip and Torchic left, but they were all put off by my attitude; some were even scared of me because of it. Trunk ended up telling me that if I didn't go with a trainer soon he'd have to release me into the wild. Honestly, I wouldn't have complained about going away from this lab, in fact if I hadn't seen what I had just witnessed I probably would have gotten myself a nest and have been munching on Oran Berries. But now...

I grabbed my discarded pokéball and began to haul it over towards Trunk and that girl, thinking about how it was nice to finally see someone (other than Trunk) not afraid to get their hands dirty. When I finally got over there and dropped the pokéball into the girl's lap, both she and Trunk stared at me. I sighed and figured I had to at least try to explain myself; they wouldn't understand it if I didn't. So there I went.

"Look, you caught my interest, kid. It's nice to see someone who doesn't mind getting into the middle of scraps; at least you're not the boring kind of person who tried to take me earlier. Mind giving me some adventure that involves the freedom of the outdoors?"

I had used a few hand gestures for their sake; again the humans wouldn't be able to understand the use of my name over and over again. They seemed to get it though, what annoyed me was that Trunk had to go and state the obvious, "I think our little friend has finally found a trainer he'll agree to work with."

"Glad to see I earned the approval of a smart ass Treecko," I couldn't help but smirk at the girl's comment, now being attached to a trainer didn't seem like such a bad thing. No, things were looking brighter, despite the fact that the sun was actually beginning to set. Confusion set in when the kid offered her hand to me though, I had seen this before... a handshake, something humans used for friendly greetings. I took her hand in one of mine before nodding to look up at her smiling, bandage-littered face.

"Looks like we're partners now so might as well get introductions over with. I'm Alexa."

"So you do have a name. And here I thought I'd be stuck calling you Twig Girl."


	2. Origins

"Alexa, you shouldn't have run off on me like that! Those Poochyena could have had an infection and no one would know until it was too late! What if they had seriously hurt you?"

"Dad..."

"Even if that Treecko didn't listen to you, you should have let Professor Birch handle the situation rather than going and doing something idiotic like that!"

"Dad..."

"Yes, you did help Professor Birch with his situation, but what if those pokémon had been fire or electrical types?! You could have been-"

"Toilet paper tail, Dad."

I watched as the girl's father blinked and looked at his behind, right before becoming as red as a Cherri Berry. An uncontrolled smirk tugged at my lips as I saw the newly dubbed 'Idiot' ripping away the white sheets and slamming them into the shit can (hey, garbage is shit; it's faster to say than garbage pail).

And then, when Idiot came back he started going on about how Alexa could have hurt herself again, Alexa looking like she was getting more and more bored with the lecture. Couldn't blame her either, it was pretty boring to listen to after a while with Idiot just repeating himself over and over again. I decided to go and entertain myself by going upstairs and seeing what was up there; this chat wasn't any of my business anyway. Unfortunately, when I got up there, I had one of those moments where I actually wished I was human.

There was a whole bunch of cool stuff in the room that actually looked entertaining, not to mention damned comfortable to lie on as I flopped onto what I assumed was her bed. Just why would anyone want to leave this comfortable haven? Of course, the girl was probably adventurous; staying in one place too long wasn't my style either so I couldn't really blame her. What took my thoughts off of such things though was a glass pane to my left; I blinked at it before looking at what it was covering. Humans were in it, Trunk said it was called a picture so I didn't do anything stupid like trying to break out the little humans inside. They apparently were just images of the real thing anyway. It was framed nicely but the picture was what really got my attention; it was showing Idiot exactly how he was now (even the same clothes, maybe his name should have been lame ass), a younger Alexa and... Someone I didn't recognize. Probably someone I hadn't met yet. Who was it...

From what I could tell, it was probably Alexa's mother. They looked kind of the same, eyes and other details I probably wouldn't be able to pick out. I saw Idiot around there but why haven't I see Alexa's mother?

"Glad to see you're enjoying looking at my family from eight years ago."

I blinked when I turned to see Alexa at the door, approaching me before sitting down beside me and taking the picture into her hands while talking to me, "You're my partner now so I guess you can know. You see, we lived in a small house in the Kanto region eight years ago. What happened is that Mom and Dad got into a fight one day. Mom left the house..." What was going on with her? Her face looked... well, she wasn't happy, but she wasn't angry or bored either. Later I'd come to know the emotion on her face as sadness but back then I didn't know what was wrong (or more importantly why I cared), "A wild Ursaring was going on a rampage because its cub had been hunted and killed. Mom just happened to be in the area when a Hyper Beam struck her from the Ursaring. Dad got there as soon as he heard the attack but he didn't make it in time to save her..."

Why would she open up to me like that? At this point she was still a virtual stranger to me, it really confused me about how she could be so open about a thing like her parents dying. Then again, I never got to meet my parents; when I was young I was captured by Trunk. I only remembered about that day was my cousin running after me, he was probably the only Treecko there who actually enjoyed my company and gave a damn about me... everyone else thought I was too secluded and aloof. I still had nightmares over it that day, losing him...

"Treecko, you okay there?"

I blinked when I heard her voice again before sighing to myself and jumping off of the bed. It wasn't important now; what was important was being entertained until something (or maybe someone) better came along. I felt her eyes on my back before her feet touched the ground as well and she started to head for the door. However, Alexa paused and turned back to me before blinking, "Do you really want to be called Treecko all of the time or would you rather think of an appropriate nickname with me?"

I had to wonder where that came from. She wanted to give me a nickname? Whether it would be easier for her to identify me with it or whether it was because she wanted me to keep some individuality were things I wasn't entirely sure of but I didn't really see the harm. With that in mind I nodded to the girl before she smiled and crouched down in front of me, "Hm... now just what would be a good name for you?"

"Well my first name for you was Twig Girl so I guess my suggestions are trashed," I ended up rolling my eyes a little with the sarcastic comment, what caught me off guard was that she laughed. Okay, did Alexa actually understand what I had said or simply the fact that it was a sarcastic comment? I decided not to give myself a head ache and went with the second hypothesis before I shook my head and shrugged, "Okay, you pick some names and I decide whether or not I like them. Nothing baby-like either or I'll have to tear out your throat."

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Well, it looked like the pokémon I got landed with had a sense of humour at least. It was then that an attack of Treecko's I had read about in the technique book Professor Birch gave me came to mind; it seemed masculine enough, I already knew that this grass pokémon was male from our first encounter after all, "Okay, how about Bullet? It seems like a guy name-"

Treecko cut me off by shaking his head and giving me a flat look; okay, so Bullet was definitely out. It might not have felt right to him, and when I thought about it the name didn't seem right to me either; I guessed that was fair enough seeing as it was going to be his new name after all, he had every single right to have a say in it.

"Okay... maybe Blade?"

I got a no again, that made me sigh. That one I actually kind of liked but again it was Treecko's name we were deciding. Overall he had the final word; I could easily make it something he didn't like but it'd be cruel to call him something he hated. That definitely eliminated anything really cute. Maybe instead of attack names though, I should have gone with something more human, his personality was definitely diverse enough for it to make sense...

"Why not call him Fervo?"

I ended up jumping from the surprise Dad gave us when he entered the room, smiling and normal-coloured again (after having calmed down from earlier). However, what made me grin was the angered reaction Treecko gave Dad; apparently Fervo was out of the question right off of the bat. Whether it was because Dad suggested it or it was because of the name itself I didn't know, but I had the distinct impression that Treecko didn't like him all that much. He'd warm up to Dad eventually though, right?

"Dad, Treecko's my pokémon! You chose not to nickname your Vigoroth; this isn't your missed opportunity!" I pointed that out playfully before he left the room; at least he wasn't mad at me anymore. But now it was back to the task at hand, deciding a name for Treecko. I sighed after a while before shaking my head, just throwing out an ideal name that had been in the back of my head, "Why don't I just call you Jack then?"

What I didn't expect was to see Treecko actually pondering for more than five seconds over this name. _Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner._ It was a while before Treecko finally nodded at me, a smirk on his face while he did so. I ended up grinning as well before giving 'Jack' a thumbs up and nodding towards him, "Jack it is then. Shall we get going now that all the important junk is out of the way?"

When I got confirmation from the pokémon I got to my feet and grabbed my backpack before heading downstairs and beginning to fill it up with stuff I thought I'd need: food, water, a flashlight, stuff to start a campfire, a sleeping bag, potions, antidotes, and of course five pokéballs on my belt to get me started. I also remembered the pokédex Professor Birch gave me and pocketed that, right before looking around. My heart fell a little at what I saw, or rather who I didn't see.

Dad must have already gone to Petalburg City without saying goodbye. Was he really that mad at me...?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Idiot wasn't around. And it really seemed to be bothering Alexa, something that annoyed me a little. Ah well, it wouldn't be important in a few minutes; we'd be out of Littleroot soon, traveling at night. When we finally left her house and started on the path away from the town, I couldn't help but notice how much more majestic the stars were at night; all I normally saw at night was the simulated environment of my pokéball. What was different was that there were so many more stars here, and in different patterns... they were free-formed and unrestrained, kind of how he liked things. However, in about an hour (after passing through an even smaller town called 'Oldale'... honestly, where do Humans come up with these names?), Alexa ended up starting to set up camp while I climbed a tree to simply look up at the sky.

Truth be told, I was jealous of the stars. And of any flying pokémon for that matter. But, there was nothing I could do about it other than enjoy what I had for the time being. One of the good things about being out here, I didn't have to listen to humans or pokémon bickering amongst themselves anymore. It was a nice silence, even if I wasn't alone I could enjoy it. Apparently Alexa was comfortable with it too as she finally got everything set up, a fire now blazing below in an enclosed area with her sleeping bag rolled out.

"Oiy, Jack! You wanna sleep outside or would you rather go back into your pokéball for the night?" Alexa yelled up at me before I looked down at her, thinking things over. I had never slept outside before (that I can remember), it might be interesting. It seemed warm out after all, so why not? I nodded in response before Alexa crawled into her sleeping bag, letting out a wide yawn and putting out the fire with a bucket of water she had filled from a pond in the area, "G'night then..."

Soon enough Alexa had drifted off to sleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts while I sat on the tree branch I had climbed up to. This was actually really comfortable... and a lot different than my pokéball. But, there was something strange I didn't really think of (at the time) when I went to sleep that night; a voice that drifted through my mind, it was familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"_Rest well, Jack. Your fated adventure begins here._"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

All right, second chapter up. And I have to say this now; Read **Tales of Flame** by **Buwaro** and **Anomaly** by **Dark Magician Girl Aeris**! They are both Pokémon fan fictions, they are both really good, and later in my own story you'll see why I told you to read them. _DO NOT BE PUT OFF BY THE LENGTH OF **TALES OF FLAME**_; Trust me, the read is SO worth it.

And now advertising is over, I do not own Pokémon and you might run into other characters in this fan fiction of whom I do not own. I will mention who they are whenever they show up (other than the generic Pokémon characters of course, those characters go without saying).


	3. Rivals

**Author's Note:** Hey, I know what you all might be thinking. "This is just a rip off from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald plot written with your own characters and you're not going to have much creativity with it, therefore I won't bother to read it." Wrong, I actually do have quite a few plans for this plot. Not to mention that **Tales of Flame** and **Anomaly** (respectively written by **Buwaro** and **Dark Magician Girl Aeris**) are great fanfics that you need to read if you're reading this one. At a later point you'll see why (And don't you dare go _OMG SPOILER_ on me in your review (should you choose to write one); you still don't know what we're doing plot-wise so nyah).

And now, on with the chapter! I've taken up enough of your time!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

I had no idea exactly why I woke up. I didn't feel too hot or cold, I wasn't under attack or anything like that, and I wasn't sleeping on a rock either... I just woke up naturally. It was strange; I couldn't put my finger on it. When I checked my watch I saw that it was four in the morning. _Great, there go four perfectly good hours of sleep,_ I sighed at that thought before looking up to the tree Jack had made a bed of. He looked comfortable, I couldn't help but smirk at how cute he looked when he was asleep. It'd probably piss him off if he found out what I was thinking about, so instead I entertained myself by looking up to the stars, laying flat on the ground so that only the sky was ahead of me.

All of the stars shining brilliantly, it was nice to get lost in their patterns, but it wouldn't last. I got too involved with my own thoughts to really notice them anymore, things like the city ahead kept coming at me. _Dad... why did you get so angry with me over that? They were just a bunch of Poochyena..._ I could feel my eyelids sliding lower as my view of the sky blackened, maybe now I could go back to-... no, I was getting myself too depressed over thoughts of Dad. I just didn't understand why he got so upset over it, I honestly had never seen him get that riled up over _anything_ before.

However, something finally gave me the incentive to stop sulking over Dad's reaction to my own actions; something was moving around in the bushes a few metres away. I blinked and slowly crawled out of my sleeping back as the rustling got more frequent, it also seemed to be moving towards bushes closer to me. When I was on my feet I ended up letting out a startled yelp. Why? Because the three Poochyena from earlier that day jumped out of the bush and began charging at me. Just barely did I manage to dodge the three attacks they threw at me, but unfortunately I wasn't prepared for what came next.

The piercing sensation in my left arm caused me to cry out while frantically trying to withdraw it. Something was biting me viciously; I could feel hot blood begin to seep into my coat's sleeve and teeth digging into my skin. Tears were almost blinding me by this point but I could still see the pokémon that was trying to tear off my arm; apparently the smaller pokémon had a Mightyena on their side. It was growling and glaring at me while trying to rip my arm right from its socket, but eventually I was able to throw it off of me.

"Ah... damn it..." While breathing heavily I sunk to my knees and grabbed the bite mark on my arm, feeling even more blood spilling onto my hands as I caught sight of the Poochyena and Mightyena surrounding me. It was scary, exactly how violent they were being when I did so little to them earlier... I couldn't do much about anything at this point. A sense of hopelessness began to come over me as I looked around, Jack was still sleeping and I had no other pokémon... My eyes clamped themselves shut as I heard the Mightyena launching itself at me, I had no choice but to take the brunt of the-

"Mudkip, use Water Gun now!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Truth be told, I was just about to interfere. I thought Alexa would be able to handle things without me but I was going to get up and play hero when the Mightyena started attacking. But, something really caught my attention; the name Mudkip was far too familiar. I ended up jumping to my feet and down onto a lower branch to get a better look at the scene; Alexa had turned just in time to see the Mightyena get thwarted and the remaining Poochyena glaring at the attacker along with its trainer. But, this Mudkip was different than the one I had just separated from; this one was a lot stronger by leaps and bounds, I could tell that from its appearance alone. It looked serious and ready for battle, its scars on its hide proving that it wasn't afraid of getting hurt. It almost made me shiver before I looked up to inspect the human it was traveling along with.

This one was a human male; that much I could tell right off of the bat. Probably not much older than Alexa either, but he seemed far from delicate. But, as I learned earlier, appearances can be deceiving... I couldn't help but smirk as the thought of this guy running away from the slightest sign of danger came into my mind because of that quote. However, those thoughts vanished when the guy ran forward and helped Alexa to her feet before getting her out of the middle of the battle, looking at her arm with a frown before turning back to his Mudkip, "Mudkip, keep going! Keep them busy long enough for me to treat this brat!"

The brat comment pissed off Alexa, but she wasn't about to complain, something that made me shake my head. It didn't matter if he had just saved her from a brutal attack; she should have said something if what he said really bothered her. I didn't get why she kept her mouth shut but I didn't ask questions, my attention once again being caught by the fight below. That Mudkip was putting up a tough fight but I could tell it was going to lose if it didn't have some help; the Mightyena might be down for the count but it still had three Poochyena to deal with and didn't look all that well. Almost as if it had just come out of a different fight and had jumped straight into this one. When I saw the damn thing trip and fall forward, I ended up jumping down and pounding my tail onto two of the Poochyena at once, instantly knocking out both of them. It was almost satisfying but I couldn't stop there; the runt of the litter was still going after the fallen water pokémon.

It happened so fast, my running towards that puppy before I slammed it into a nearby tree. It had shaken me a bit so I wobbled a couple of steps before everything stopped spinning, I could see that it had also knocked out the third Poochyena. Behind me I could hear Mudkip getting to its feet before it spoke to me (it was then I could tell that it was a female one), "Thank you kindly stranger, I haven't had a chance to recover from my last battle so I had nothing left to throw at them."

"You're wrong if you think it was you I wanted to help," I rolled my eyes at the obviously idiotic pokémon before I approached Alexa and the other trainer, giving the latter of the two a glare before I began to inspect the former's arm. Blood was seeping through the bandages they had put onto her arm, wonderful.

"Damn do those Mightyena ever bite hard..." Alexa muttered to herself before patting me on the head with her good arm, still smiling at me. I got a weird feeling in my stomach but I decided to push it down, "I almost thought you ran away. Glad I was wrong though, Jack."

"Jack? What the hell kind of name is that for a pokémon?" He just i had /i to butt in. I glanced coldly towards the male trainer before ignoring him completely. However, something caught my attention again, and that was the sudden, loud crash of skin against skin. When I looked to the humans again I saw the guy's face turned away while Alexa's good hand was in the air. It looked like a double-slap attack that only happened once and was far more brutal... "Just what'd you do that for?! I saved your butt just now!"

"You also called me a brat! That I could have let slide, but you went and insulted my pokémon too! That I can't just ignore," Whoo, someone had a short temper. I still didn't get why she cared more about the guy insulting me than she did about the name-calling on her, but whatever the case I had to hold back Mudkip now; she was pissed that someone just went and attacked the guy like that, I couldn't help but feel that this one was a bit too possessive...

"Relax! I'm sure Whitey's going to be okay from that!" I ended up yelling at Mudkip while trying to hold her back, and unfortunately we had the attention of both trainers as well, "Besides, it won't matter anymore over a couple of Oran Berries, eh?"

"Whitey?" Mudkip blinked at me when I said that, apparently my nickname for that guy seemed to have calmed it down enough to stop trying to charge at Alexa.

I sighed and shook my head before beginning to explain, "Yes, Whitey. The guy has white hair, or am I suddenly prone to colour-blindness?"

"No, I've just never heard that nickname for him before. Usually I call him Greg, that's what I hear other humans calling him," While blinking at me Mudkip plopped down onto the ground, the humans deciding to ignore us and were now going back to their own argument, "I still don't see why your trainer had to slap Greg like that though."

"It confuses me too," I sat down and decided to watch the humans argue with Mudkip, at least this one wasn't childish and immature. Seemed to be a bit thick but that I could probably deal with. However... it looked like Alexa and 'Greg' wouldn't be getting along properly for quite a while...

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I couldn't believe the nerve of that guy! He called me a brat when I was under attack, and I _know_ I didn't deserve that. And when he made fun of my pokémon... that was just going too far. By this point we were beginning to walk towards Petalburg (seeing as jack-ass-named-Greg thought 'it wouldn't be safe to stay out there any longer'), Jack and Mudkip walking behind us while I determinedly looked on ahead. I didn't care about whether or not the guy actually did save my ass anymore; I really wished he would just leave. I could already tell he was an egotistical bone-head...

"Look, I'm sorry!" There he was trying to get me to talk to him. Like hell he was going to be successful at that, "Come on, you won't even tell me your name? How can I apologize properly if I don't know what it is?"

If he thought it was going to be _that_ easy to get me talking must have been a lot thicker than I first thought. But, unfortunately, he did manage to say something to get my blood boiling again, "I'll bet it's something stupid like Alex. No wonder you won't tell me, can't say I'd blame you if I was in your shoes..."

Honestly, I wasn't sure if he was trying to provoke me or if that was him being a complete idiot. Whatever the case, it did con a reaction out of me in the sense that he earned another slap along with my shouting in his face, "My name is _Alexa_, and I don't care who you are or what you want so back the fuck off! I'm going to Petalburg City to talk to my Dad; I don't care what you want so leave me alone!"

There, I said it. And then I began to storm off, I could hear Jack sighing behind me and running to catch up. At least someone was on my side; if he didn't agree with me then he probably would have run off again by now. However, something hard crashed into the back of my head just then, causing me to stumble a few steps and to glare back at the person who threw it.

"Now that I've got your attention, _Alexa_," He had to throw a Chesto Berry at me to get my attention? That probably made me even more pissed off at him, "You don't have to be so violent! I'm sorry for calling you and your pokémon those names. Now will you stop being unreasonable and accept the damn apology?"

"You threw a Chesto Berry at my head and are expecting me to be friendly with you? Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees something wrong with this picture."

"Okay, okay," Greg sighed at me while closing his eyes, when he opened them again I noticed that they were a very nice shade of brown... but I was still mad at him, don't get me wrong! "I also apologize for the Chesto Berry. Now will you talk to me?"

"I dunno..."

"Aw, come on! What do I have to do?" I couldn't help but smirk to myself a little as I heard Greg complaining behind me, now really I was just messing with him. A part of me was still mad but I figured that this could prove to be entertaining... at least for a little while. Until he actually did something stupid again I had no reason to be mad at him, so why couldn't I simply mess with his head for a while?

"Are all girls this complicated...?"

"I heard that."

Hah, made him gulp. I honestly was thoroughly amused by this; it was going to be an interesting couple of days if this continued on. It was then that my thoughts were cut short however; he decided to be stupid and say something insulting towards me, "I guess your pride's bruised, you weren't able to take on those Poochyena and Mightyena... you really are a weak trainer, aren't you?"

"Well excuse me for just starting today! I doubt you were an expert right off the bat!" He was cowering a little now, something that made his Mudkip roll his eyes. I didn't care, he was pushing all of the wrong buttons; he pissed me off so much, not only what he said but the way he said it too! He wasn't superior, so why the hell was he acting like it? _Miserable jerk..._

Jack jumped onto my head at that point, offering me a Berry. I couldn't tell exactly what kind it was so I gently rejected the offer before he shrugged and ate it on his own. Greg and his Mudkip were following me silently now, why couldn't they just leave me alone...?

Little did I know that I would actually be stuck with them for quite a while.


	4. Arrival

I was almost too tired to move by the time we reached what Alexa said was 'Petalburg City.' Of course I was still riding on her head, having already eaten through the Oran Berry I had found earlier. It wasn't even enough to make me stumble when I jumped down though, man had that Berry's juice ever been weak. I'd have to work on getting Alexa to grow some better ones or something of the sort...

We went into this weird building soon enough, I was a little shocked to see the glass panes in front of us moving aside as we approached. I had never seen something like this before, there was nothing like that back at the Laboratory in Littleroot. It kind of interested me as I inspected the door, using my tail as a testing point to see how it opened and closed. I couldn't see anyone moving the doors so honestly I had no clue exactly what was going on with this-

"GAH! Bloody-!" It was from then on that I determined that glass was a cursed substance that should never be tampered with.

"Oh! Jack, are you okay?" I could hear Alexa running towards me and making the glass slide away before she dragged me away from the panes of glass. Which was good, I could see the crimp in my tail now at least, it didn't look like the damage would be permanent. Still hurt like all hell though... I blinked when a woman with red hair took me from Alexa's arms, soon enough I was carried through a different sliding door (this one was made of metal) and gently put down on a table. Then, the strange woman started to put a soft bandage around my tail while Alexa came in, followed by Mudkip and Greg. _A pokémon could get used to this,_ I smirked at the thought before the woman tied the bandage up and turned to my own trainer, "Your Treecko's going to be all right, miss. It really just has to be more careful, its tail will be all right in a couple of days."

"Thanks Nurse Joy," Strange woman was now Nurse Joy; I had to keep that in my mind as a mental note for the future. I couldn't help but sigh and shake my head as I inspected my tail now; it still throbbed a bit from the door. Mudkip was laughing at me, I kind of grinned a bit before speaking to her, "Well, I guess I'll have to get someone else watching my back from now on; I kind of just proved that I'll muck that up."

"No kidding," Mudkip rolled her eyes at me before hopping onto the bed, "You know..." Oh crap, she was looking serious. That _couldn't_ be good for me. I must have been good about keeping my face blank though; Mudkip simply kept going as if that thought hadn't just popped into my mind, "I still have to wonder why you have a human name. It just seems odd for a pokémon to have a name like that, you know?"

"I'm an odd pokémon. The girl let me have a say in my nickname and it happened to appeal to me," I ended up shrugging before lying back and looking at the ceiling. Nurse Joy, Greg and Alexa had left the room at this point, and that meant we could be left alone for a while to have our conversation, "What about you? Did your trainer let you have a say in your nickname?"

"Naah, he just likes calling me Mudkip because it's easy," I heard her sigh before walking around on the bed; I couldn't help but wonder just what was she up to then. But, it was boring in here so I couldn't really blame her for wanting to move around. It was a few more minutes before Alexa and Greg came back in; I was finally taken off of the bed and let onto the ground to try and walk around for a bit. It wasn't the same with a piece of white cloth on my tail but I wasn't crippled or anything.

Something caught my attention though; I saw a glass bottle with a picture of an Oran Berry on the label and a whole bunch of that juice inside. With a smirk I jumped onto the counter and grabbed at the bottle while no one was looking; Greg, Mudkip and Alexa were preoccupied with Nurse Joy at the moment. There was nothing blocking the top of the bottle, therefore I decided this was one glass contraption worth working with. I easily managed to tip it so that the liquid went straight down my throat, the tangy taste sliding into my mouth with power the berries alone never had. Somehow - I don't quite remember how – I got the bottle standing back up before I fell to the ground from the counter with a smack.

It looked like I got everyone's attention again with that, which really didn't bother me; I couldn't get back up. Every single time I tried, I stumbled forward and fell onto my face. I heard Alexa sighing while Mudkip's tail tapped at my head. That hurt like all hell and I knew it shouldn't have been. Oh well, everything was still looking... different. I finally got back up and started to dance a bit. I stumbled all over the place while a giddy feeling took over me, making me rather dizzy before I grinned at Mudkip. Now _that_ was the way to have fun.

Soon enough I had actually grabbed Mudkip's front legs and started dancing with her, earning a confused look from her and all of the humans in the building. It didn't matter though; nothing seemed to matter more than having fun at the time. I ended up falling over again and letting go of Mudkip, she also fell over and I laughed because of it. She seemed mad because I had let go of her so abruptly but I knew that she'd get over it. I then let my head smack against the ground while looking at the spinning ceiling above.

That... was definitely the best shot of Oran Berry Juice I had ever gotten, a thought that came and stuck just before I ended up passing out.

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"I can't believe he drank the wine," I sighed while returning Jack to his pokéball, shaking my head while blushing furiously. Greg's Mudkip was frowning at me but Greg was laughing his ass off over the matter, right until I gave him a death glare, "It's not _that_ funny. Jack's hammered now because of it..." Of course, I'd probably be the one laughing the hardest over it later. At that moment I was just hoping he didn't poison himself on the stuff.

"Lighten up Alexa, you've gotta admit it's pretty funny," Greg ended up slapping my back just as I returned the pokéball to my belt, I gave him a meek grin before shaking my head at him, "Well, your Treecko should recover in a few hours from that, he was munching on Oran Berries all the way here. Why don't we go see the Gym Leader now? Mudkip and I are ready to get that Balance Badge and I heard the Gym Leader just got into town!"

My stomach flipped at the mention of the Gym Leader, I knew exactly who that was; I'd be meeting my Dad again a lot sooner than I wanted to. Silently I nodded towards Greg while following him and his Mudkip through the town with my gaze on the ground. Dad was probably still angry with me over the whole Poochyena incident from yesterday... _He'll freak out on me when he finds out I scrapped with a Mightyena,_ I sighed inwardly while continuing onward, the dread in my gut rising higher as we approached the Gym.

When we came in though, I didn't see my dad anywhere; the person I guessed was the Gym Attendant was helping a boy try to calm down, "Easy kid, Norman's busy with a challenger right now. I'm sure someone will help you catch your own pokémon to take with you soon enough!"

"But... I'm leaving town in 20 minutes..."

I could hear the hesitancy in the boy's voice while he looked up to the attendant, right before I decided to step in; Dad wasn't there and someone had to take action. So why couldn't it be me? "Hey, I'll help him catch a pokémon if you really need someone to supervise; My name's Alexa, the gym leader Norman is my father. I'm sure he won't mind if I help."

Greg ran up in front of me as if he was about to say something but only ended up gawking at me. The attendant, in the meantime, looked rather pleased about this and handed a pokéball to the other boy,

"Great! Here Wally, take this Zigzagoon and use it to help you catch a pokémon in the bushes just outside of town. I'm sure Alexa will be able to help you if anything becomes too difficult, all right?"

"Sure... thank you," The boy smiled weakly and nodded before coming towards me, blushing heavily and looking down. Damn it, looked like he was shy. I smiled as warmly as I could before escorting Wally out of the gym and towards the bushes where Greg and I had come from earlier that morning. When I looked around I saw something that almost made me squeal; two of the cutest pokémon were eating Pecha Berries, I quickly whipped out my pokédex to see exactly what they were.

"Ralts, huh? You think that's what you want, Wally?"

I smiled at the boy beside me after hearing the pokédex explanation before he nodded shyly and throw the pokéball containing Zigzagoon, "Go Zigzagoon! Use Headbutt!"

It was almost too easy, the raccoon pokémon bowling over both of the tiny pokémon in one sweep; it must have been powerful to be able to take those two out so easily. Wally then caught one of them and thanked me before I ended up throwing an empty pokéball of my own at the second one; I just had to get one for myself, it was absolutely adorable! Plus, I heard it was a psychic pokémon which made it all that much more lovable.

What? I loved psychic pokémon! You couldn't expect me to just waste the opportunity could you?

It was a few more minutes before Wally and I returned to the gym, the Zigzagoon being given back before Wally turned to me, blushing even more heavily than before, "Thank you, Alexa. I really appreciate you being there to make sure everything went well. Thanks to you we each have our own Ralts!"

"Hey, don't worry about it. I hope to see you sometime, 'kay?" Winking and giving a thumbs up to Wally, I watched him leave before an all too familiar voice showed up behind me.

"Urk... your dad's one powerful trainer, Alexa. I got flattened in five minutes..."

I ended up smirking a little before going to Greg, but unfortunately that meant making eye-contact with someone else too. I had to bite my lower lip and look away to avoid his eye, but soon enough I heard him leaving; when I turned back to Greg he was gone. I couldn't help but sigh then and decided to drag the defeated boy with me back to the Pokémon Center; his Mudkip probably had a lot of healing to do along with his other pokémon after all.

When we reached it we met with Nurse Joy again, I gave her Jack's pokéball before looking at the other occupied sphere on my belt; I still had to let my new Ralts out. While Greg was busy I let Ralts out of its pokéball and let it wake up; apparently it was still rather flustered from the Zigzagoon attack it had endured earlier. It was a shame that I couldn't see its eyes though, but I guessed that was just a trait about the tiny pokémon before me. How would it react to having a new trainer so suddenly though...?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Everything was coming back now. While I was eating Pecha Berries with my younger brother, a Zigzagoon came out of nowhere and bowled us both over at the order of a young human child. Since then, everything had been black. Now I could see light flooding everywhere, looking through the veil on my head to try and grasp my surroundings. It was so strange to look at and immediately I stumbled; the ground I floated above was hard and in square blocks rather than the grass and dirt I was so accustomed to.

Foreign hands came around me when I had stumbled, I blinked when this happened and looked up to see one of the people who had been with the Zigzagoon. I blinked to get everything back into focus; I could tell immediately this human was not the one who had ordered the raccoon pokémon to battle. With my head still pounding it was hard to hear what the human was saying to me but somehow I could still understand, "Are you feeling all right, Ralts? You can rest here if you still need to recover."

It was so hard to believe, how kind the human's tone of voice was. After what they had put me through, they were asking me how I was feeling? It was so strange to see someone so fickle, but at the same time I remembered hearing of humans like this; they captured pokémon from the wild and trained them to do battle or for other reasons. I ended up squirming quite a bit to try and get out of the human's arms, I couldn't trust humans! They had killed my mother and father a year ago, I was the only one left to take care of my little brother! And now he was gone too...

"Easy! Calm down, you're safe here," I didn't know what was so calming about that human's voice but I obeyed anyway, making myself still while I stared up at them again. I really wanted to escape to find my brother though... "Hey, are you worried about that other Ralts that was with you? Is that why you're struggling?"

That was shocking. It was almost as if the human read my mind in that moment, as if they could truly understand me. The human sighed before shaking their head and speaking to me once more, "That Ralts is with Wally now. You probably won't see that Ralts again for a long time."

I gawked at the human above me as their expression became one of sadness, they couldn't be telling the truth. They just couldn't have taken my brother away from me... "Just who do you think you are, separating my brother from me? You humans are so... so...!"

"Geez Alexa, you have a knack for getting the weirdest pokémon," Another human walked up then, crouching down to get a better look at me while the first human was still trying to keep me under control.

I noticed right away how different this new human's voice and appearance were, I guessed that probably meant they were of different genders. Just who was who was a mystery to me still but that wasn't important right now anyway; this new human was getting way too close for comfort, I didn't know why I was uncomfortable with them around me but the first human seemed a lot softer and therefore more likable to me, "A Treecko who drinks and a Ralts that's freaking out on you. I wonder what else is weird about it."

"To it you're the weird one, Greg," The human holding me spoke again while I blinked up at them, why did they keep referring to me as an it? I was male, were all humans that thick? Somehow I managed to slide out of the first human's arms before floating just above the ground to steady myself and flailing my arms about while the first human blinked and talked to me, "Ralts? What're you doing?"

"You humans! I'm a pokémon who just wants to look after his little brother and you took him away from me!" Accusingly I pointed my arm towards the first human before they sighed and held out their own hand to me. It was strange to me, seeing a human hand; it had five separate stretches of skin and bone stemming from its main hand and it looked like the main hand could move around in any direction from its wrist. I blinked at the hand and looked up at the human before me and listened to what they were saying for the moment.

"Look, I'm sorry if I've offended you in some way, Ralts. I don't want to fight with you, we're going to be partners now and it's important that we get along at least."

I felt my cheeks grow hot when I looked at the human now, what was so enticing about this human? I kind of picked up on the human's name when the other human had talked to them, it was 'Alexa'. And the other human was 'Greg'. Speaking of 'Greg,' they were inspecting me again before they said something that really made me angry, "Man does it ever look weak. I wonder if it's a girl Ralts or just a pansy boy."

What happened in the next few seconds happened almost too quickly to keep track of. First, Alexa ended up smacking Greg across the cheek along with some hissing about how gender had nothing to do with it (I think I got that Greg was a male and that Alexa was female by that point), right before I lifted Greg off of the ground with my mind and threw him across the room. Several humans were staring at me by this point, in fact I think I only knew one who didn't; Greg was currently dizzy and trying to get to his feet after slamming into the wall.

"I think that just proved that Ralts is a boy," Finally, someone who understood. Alexa grinned at me before she patted my head and looked at me. She had pretty blue eyes... I had to wonder if I had eyes like that. But past my distraction I still heard what she was saying, "Looks like you have the same opinion about Greg as I do; he just doesn't know when to shut up."

"You know I heard that..." Greg's groan came from behind Alexa as he approached again, still rubbing the back of his head. I couldn't help but smirk as he made his next comment, "Correction, you don't get weird pokémon. You get psychotic ones."

"They match me, don't they?" I ended up laughing a little when she said that, it made Greg get a blank look on his face before he backed off. I slowly crawled into her lap then, causing the girl to blink down at me. I felt a smile tugging at my own lips as one pulled at hers, "I think Ralts likes me too. Maybe it's not the end of the world that you were caught, Ralts?"

"I still don't trust you completely. But I guess I can tolerate you for now."

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In all honesty, I didn't do as much with this chapter as I wanted to. But at least it's done, right? As you can see I have introduced yet another character, the psychic pokémon Ralts; a distrustful (or so he'd like to think) and (I hope to be) more 'sophisticated' pokémon. You will see more updates from me soon but I still want to hear from you! I want reviews, damn it! So give them to me and you will see more chapters! Until next time, have fun, stay in school and don't do drugs!

... yeah. I'm horrible with jokes when I'm not in character with the story. Deal with it.

Big shout out to **Buwaro** and **Dark Magician Girl Aeris** for reviewing every chapter so far! Read their fanfics (**Tales of Flame** and **Anomaly** respectively) already! They're really good, promise! And now that the shameless advertising is over the chapter can finally end and I can leave you waiting for chapter five.

_ONE FINAL NOTE TO YOU ALL._

Alexa **_does not_** have May's appearance from Sapphire/Ruby/Emerald. I will establish a true appearance for her next chapter. Same story with Greg, although his hair is the same colour as Brendan's from Sapphire/Ruby/Emerald, he **_does_** look different.


	5. Memories

Unfortunately, there are only going to be two points of view in this chapter; Ralts' and Alexa's. Why? Because Jack is currently not making sense in my mind; you'll see what I mean later. Shameless advertising will come later in the chapter. I'll let you read the rest of it first.

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It was morning again when I woke up in the room the Pokémon Center had housed us in for the night, rubbing my eyes as sunlight poured in from the window. We didn't have curtains so really it was impossible to stop from waking up at sunrise, that theory proven with a groan from my current companion, Greg. I then hesitantly slid my feet over the side of the bed to stand up; it was really hard to do it without waking up Ralts or falling onto my face. As I found out through the night, Ralts was a pretty light sleeper.

A silent yawn was blocked by my hand as I went into the bathroom, shutting the door before pulling out new clothes from my bag; I had to change clothing some times, right? I brought a few sets along with me because I thought the Pokémon Centers ahead would be few and far in between; doing laundry when I did run into one was a must because of it. When I put my dirty clothes in the machine (my old jacket had to be thrown out because of the Mightyena bite on it) I got dressed in the ones taken out, leaving the laundry room for the moment in favour of the bathroom.

Everything was in order once I had brushed and flossed my teeth before I started on my hair. It was really messy and all over the place, but (more than likely) the oddest thing about my hair was that it was neon green. I dyed it to stay that way every so often, my natural hair colour was actually white-blonde (though not as white a Greg's; his is more silvery where as mine, from what I can remember, is on the golden side). Big blue eyes were looking back at me while I continued to brush out my hair before tying it back into a low ponytail, bangs of hair draping themselves around the sides of my face.

I couldn't help but sigh as I looked at the clothes I wore; they didn't really make my favourite outfit: Black jeans with buckled boots underneath, a navy-blue tank top (that showed a bit of stomach, something Dad disliked greatly) and a dark green blazer. I loved the boots and the pants but the blazer and t-shirt weren't exactly the most favoured items in my wardrobe. I put on a black base-ball cap with the visor low above my ponytail, a sigh leaving me before my eyes closed. I guessed I was ready for the world again, but now it was probably time to go and watch the laundry machine. It was only seven-thirty in the morning after all; Greg and Ralts probably wouldn't be up for another hour.

When I plopped down onto the bench in front of the washing machines and stared at the devices, I couldn't help but get lost in thought about a conversation I had with Greg the previous night. He was asking me a lot of questions, quite a few of which were really personal...

"_**Alexa, I don't get why you don't just return Ralts to his pokéball. If he's going to be that light of a sleeper, he might wake up for no reason and run away on you,**" Greg was sighing at me while sipping on the remainder of his soda, shaking his head before turning to me, "**Honestly, it just doesn't make sense.**"_

"_**I want to get to know Ralts better. It's nothing more than that,**" I was irritated with him by this point; wouldn't he just simply shut up about it? Of course, there was probably nothing I could do to get the idiot to stop with the questions, but then I thought that explaining myself had a small chance of making him stop talking, "**It's not the best thing in the world to lock away your pokémon in those things all the time. They need fresh air and, in this case, quality time with their trainers. Don't tell me you don't let out your pokémon once in a while...**"_

"_**I do, but not when they're this hesitant around me,**" Greg sighed while flipping away the elongated bangs of his hair away from his left eye, blood-red shirt shifting with his movements before he opened his eyes and looked at me again, "**Ralts seems to be upset because he's apart from the other one. Maybe it was related to him or something...**"_

"_**I think that might be it. I guess that means I'll have to make a pit stop in Verdanturf Town; I heard that's where Wally went to. When I get there I can let Ralts see his friend again...**"_

"_**What's with all the 'I' stuff? You're saying it like I'm not going to be there.**"_

_I stared at him for a while when he began to sip on his soda again, he was actually planning to come with Jack, Ralts and I? When Greg stopped drinking the soda in favour of looking at me again I coughed and closed my eyes to avoid his gaze, "**I'm sorry, I thought I heard you wrong. I thought you just said that in a way like you expect to come with me and my pokémon.**"_

"_**I do expect to. I don't see why not; you're a beginner and need help, I might as well be the one to help you,**" Deep brown eyes were looking at me in dead seriousness when he said this, I could feel my cheeks burning in response; for once, he said something stupid and I didn't get pissed at him. For the moment anyway. He wasn't being egotistical when he said it, maybe that was why; quite on the contrary, it seemed more like he was actually worried about what might happen if I was on my own._

_Thoughts like that stopped almost immediately though, I shook it off and stared determinedly at one corner of the wall before I answered, "**I'm not going to be alone. I have my pokémon.**"_

"_**I know. But don't you think having someone you can actually have a conversation with is more convenient than trying to understand a pokémon's name all the time?**"_

_This time he hid under the table, meaning that he had expected me to hit him after saying that comment. But, unlike when I had first met him, he didn't get a slap; he got a swift kick instead, "**Ow! Yeesh, I'm sorry! I didn't think you hated other people that much!**"_

"_**If it was anyone but you it wouldn't be that much of a problem,**" I smirked while he came up to the top of the table again, I stuck my tongue out at him while he merely frowned at me, "**Fine, come if you want to. But if you do get annoying, be warned now I will kick your ass.**"_

"_**As if I don't know that already,**" Greg rolled his eyes at me, but then he stopped when I laughed again; it seemed to surprise him. Considering that he'd only seen the violent side of me so far it wasn't too unexpected for him to be shocked at seeing a friendlier version of me, "**... I didn't know you could laugh without beating up something or seeing me in pain.**"_

"_**There's a lot you don't know about me. And, to be fair, I don't know all that much about you either.**"_

_He ended up talking to me about where he grew up and junk like that (as it turned out, he was Professor Birch's son and had been training for about six months at that point. Started out with a Mudkip and had caught a Lotad (evolved it into Lombre), a Mawile, a Taillow (now Swellow) and a Sableye that he kept with him since then), but then it was my turn. When I told him that we only moved to Littleroot Town recently, he stopped me and asked, "**You said you and your Dad moved here. What about your Mom?**"_

"_**...I'd rather not talk about that right now,**" Surprisingly, he seemed to grasp that he had struck a nerve and kept quiet after that. It was soon after that we ended up sneaking back into our room and (while somehow not waking up Ralts) going to sleep._

"Alexa! What're you doing in there?"

I blinked when I was called back to reality; I must have been sitting there for the whole hour before Greg had shouted at me. I could also hear Ralts' growling; the idiot must have woken him up when he yelled out for me. Quickly my clothes were thrown into the dryer before I stormed out of the room, pushing Greg out of my path while I was heading towards Ralts. Once I reached it I ended up scooping up the little pokémon into my arms. Ralts stopped growling and struggling then as I began to speak again, "Hey, sorry for him waking you up like that. We have to go soon though, is that okay Ralts?"

I got a nod of confirmation from the pokémon at this point, and in turn a smile tugged at my lips; at least he wasn't too mad about being woken up so abruptly...

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I had been having a nightmare before Greg had woken me up. I kept seeing my parents being slaughtered by Houndour and Houndoom, along with my little brother shrinking in terror behind me. It was relieving that horrific night, but something had been different about that dream; the humans controlling the pokémon weren't the ones who I had seen one year ago... they were the human child who had captured my brother and Alexa. And they were both laughing so cruelly, I couldn't believe things were going like that. Alexa had been too kind to me to ever do something like that...

But when I woke up, Alexa came in and pushed Greg out of the way before picking me up to try and calm me down. Which was probably good, I would have thrashed the boy around again had Alexa not stopped me. I didn't know why I had such a dream about her though... she was so kind to me; I could tell that, by the gentle way I was held, hurting me was probably out of the question, "Hey, you wanna go meet Jack? He's going to be travelling with us as well, he's just recovering..."

Who was Jack? I ended up becoming curious when he was mentioned and tilted my head towards Alexa; was 'Jack' a human or pokémon? "I'll take that as a yes. Come on, let's go."

I was placed near the ground before I began to float above it again, following Alexa as I heard Greg finally getting up and groaning behind us, "Geez... You've really gotta stop throwing me around like that. It hurts, you know?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Innocently Alexa spoke back to the other human, causing him to flush a little while I grinned, "You take damage too well for it to really show anyway."

It took a minute or two before a woman with red hair handed Alexa a pokéball, the former smiling at me while I simply stared at it. Okay, so Jack was a pokémon. And I was (more than likely) going to meet him in a couple of seconds, judging from what Alexa said anyway, "Nurse Joy just told me, Jack got over something stupid he did earlier. He should be okay now, but there's only one way to find out. Come on out, Jack."

Before me in a flash of red light, a Treecko appeared on the ground before me. And, just as the light faded, the Treecko's hands went to the sides of his head while a groan left him, "Damn... that was great Oran Berry Juice but you really feel it in the morning..."

"Oran Berry Juice? That stuff does weird things to your mind," I stared at the grass pokémon while he stumbled to the side; he almost fell from that but he ended up catching himself at the last second. After I had said my piece though he grinned at me, falling backwards onto his tail before he talked back to me.

"What better reason to drink it? Now don't squeak so loudly; my head's still killing me from yesterday..."

"Idiot," Muttering this under my breath I shook my head at the Treecko before turning to him again, approaching very slowly at this point, "So I take it you're Jack?"

"Unless Alexa changed my nickname without my knowing... and just who're you?"

"Ralts. Alexa caught me yesterday, presumably while you were knocked out."

"Explains a lot, like why I don't remember who the bloody hell you are."

The language Jack used confused me a bit but I could tell immediately that pursuing the subject would be pointless; Jack had gotten to his feet and swayed again before Alexa ended up returning him to his pokéball.

"I'll let him out again later... when he's not so hung-over."

"Might as well let Ralts meet Mudkip as well," Greg nodded to himself before pressing the big button on his own pokéball; soon enough another pokémon was seen before me in the same flash of light Treecko had appeared in, "Ralts, this is Mudkip. Please be nice to her, she doesn't have the same tendency to piss people off as I do."

At that comment I looked at the black eyes of the Mudkip before me as she started speaking to me, "So I guess you're new. Did Greg catch you or was it the girl with Greg?"

"Alexa caught me yesterday," I nodded to confirm what Mudkip was asking me, but then I noticed something, "Did you get into a serious fight recently?"

"You could say that... Greg made me battle against another trainer's pokémon yesterday, and those pokémon were a lot stronger than I was. I managed to take down a Spinda but a Vigoroth did me in."

"At least you're still alive; it's good to live to fight another day, right?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Mudkip sighed before shaking her head and sitting down beside me, "But it also means I'm not a very strong pokémon yet. I hope that I'll get stronger though, I like to fight for Greg..."

"He strikes me as a bit of an idiot. But I suppose different opinions merit different..." I stopped to look around the area, but so far there was only one human near us; the human with the red hair. I had to pause and ponder over that...

"Ralts? What's wrong?"

"Where did Alexa and Greg go?"

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"I hope they don't get too angry with us over leaving them there at the Pokémon Center," Greg groaned at me while I continued to walk ahead of him, determined with a set destination in mind. I was going to find out if Dad really was mad at me or not; if I didn't, I'd probably be still feeling guilty by the time I actually challenged him for his badge. Or worse, he wouldn't let me challenge him because of it.

"Where's Norman?"

When we entered the Gym, I saw immediately that Dad wasn't in that room; I only saw the Gym attendant that I had run into from the previous day. When he noticed Greg and me he nodded and jerked his thumb towards the door, "Alexa, your father wanted to have a word with you if you came back. May I ask you to wait here please, young man? This is a conversation Norman wanted to keep private."

I could see from the corner of my eye Greg nodding while I swiftly began to make my way through the maze of rooms. Then, there was that final door painted with words, 'Gym Leader's Room; See what awaits you!' _I'll definitely be seeing what's awaiting me in there,_ I took a deep breath before my hand gripped the handle of the door; this was it. Whatever was waiting for me, I had to take it now because I had come too close to turn back.

When the door slowly opened, I looked to see Dad waiting at the back of the room. He nodded towards me before I slipped in and shut the door behind me. I couldn't really wait all that long though, I just had to know, "Dad, why are you so mad over what happened in Littleroot Town? They were just a bunch of Poochyena-"

"And the bandage on your arm?"

I winced when he had said that, it was a barely controlled calm I only saw when he was i really /i pissed, "I kind of got attacked by the same Poochyena on the way to Petalburg City. They brought a friend..."

Dad stared at me for a full minute after I had said that before sighing and closing his eyes, "Alexa, come here."

You could only imagine the fear I was feeling as I gulped hard, right before approaching as ordered. What was he going to do...?

"Alexa," Even more nervousness was mounting now; I swore I was close to fainting then as Dad spoke again, "... don't travel without your pokémon. If they become loyal you'll be protected from such things."

What the hell. He didn't shout. I stared at him before meekly nodding, but what happened next was something that was completely unexpected; he stood up and immediately hugged me tightly, "Alexa, I was scared of losing you. I lost your mother because she was separated from me when that Ursaring attacked her, I don't want to lose you the same way. Please... don't make me go through that again. One man can only take so much."

Hot, salty water was beginning to form around the corners of my eyes before I ended up clamping them shut; that was what it was about? He was scared of losing me? Mixed relief and numerous other feelings began to overwhelm me as I returned a tight hug to Dad, "Dad..."

There was nothing more to say. I just stood there and cried into Dad's chest while he held me close; I still don't know why I started to cry then, it was something I hadn't done since Mom left us...

"Aww, how sweet. Why don't we leave father and daughter alone so they can have their moment while we steal father's pokémon?"

I jumped at the voice and stared at the door where I had come in from, a darkened figure was standing there; I couldn't see any of their features, there was too much light behind them for me to tell much more than the fact that they were a woman.

"My pokémon? Just who are you to steal pokémon?" Dad roared at them after letting me go, eyes narrowed angrily at the mention of someone stealing his pokémon. Honestly, I couldn't blame him; I'd probably punch out the woman if she threatened to steal mine.

"Ah, I'm sorry; I suppose I'll have to introduce myself. But, since I have to keep some privacy in terms of my identity, you may only know me as Kujaku of Team Rocket."

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Hah! Told you that I wouldn't only stick to the Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald plot!

So now we have an appearance established for Alexa, I'll have to get into more detail with Greg later. I'm sorry for not including Jack's POV in this chapter but I can promise you this; chapter 6 will feature a lot more of him. That is all I can say without spoiling it.

And now, shameless advertising! Read **Tales of Flame** by **Buwaro **and **Anomaly** by **Dark Magician Girl Aeris** already! They are good! They are fantastic! And, if you don't, Jack will probably pour Oran Berry Wine down your throat until you get alcohol poisoning. ;) Also, review my fic! I wanna know what you guys think of it! Until next time...


	6. Defeat

This is what you have all been waiting for! Chapter 6 of **Hoenn Chronicles** has finally arrived! Aren't you excited? ...okay, it's not the most valuable chapter in the story as of yet nor is it going to be in the future. But, it is an update, it does have conflict, it (more thoroughly) introduces a new character and it does keep things moving. As promised, Jack will have a much larger part in this chapter. And unlike usual, there will be no shameless advertising in this chapter or in any chapter following this one. I am done not because I do not love those fanfics but because it is tiresome for both me, the author, to type it all out each chapter and for you, the reader, to have to go through the pain of reading it every single time when I'm sure you've already gone to do so, right? And now, on with the chapter!

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"It doesn't matter who you are, you're not going to touch my pokémon!" Dad roared angrily towards the woman who called herself Kujaku; If Greg thought I was bad tempered, he would probably compare my Dad to a charging Rhydon, "No one has the right to take another trainer's pokémon!"

"Why do you think I said it was stealing? For a Gym Leader you're not all that smart," The woman stepped forward so that we could get a better look at her and immediately I could see she was rolling her eyes at us; the woman was wearing a black shirt with a huge red 'R' on it with a matching black mini-skirt and boots, her long navy-blue hair free to blow around with the rushes of wind coming in through the open door of the room. Her dark grey eyes were probably the most frightening feature she had though; they were cold and malicious, something that made me shiver as she spoke to us again, "As we speak my partner is robbing the Pokémon Center. You might as well give up now; you're not getting any help against me."

"Go, Vigoroth! Slaking! Slakoth! Spinda! Linoone!"

Before my eyes the five pokémon came out of their pokéballs as I backed off; this wasn't my fight and the only pokémon I had on me was a Treecko recovering from a hang-over. Something more important was prodding at me; they were attacking the Pokémon Center as well! Greg had probably already gone back to take care of Ralts and Mudkip, but still... I had to get there as soon as possible.

It seemed like Dad and I were on the same track; he turned to me and nodded while shouting out, "Alexa! Get over to the Pokémon Center and make sure your friend and your pokémon are safe! I'll handle this woman!"

"Right, Dad!" I gave him a smile and thumbs up before I began to bolt for the only other door leading into the room; however, an explosion blocked the way as my exit was blocked. Instead, two pokémon were growling at me and approaching me rather quickly before I was pounced by the pair of them and pinned; I didn't even have a chance to brace myself against them.

"I'm sorry, but I think Houndour and Houndoom enjoy the kid's company too much for her to leave so soon," Kujaku laughed coldly and after I tilted my head back I could see the smirk on her face. I could also see Dad; his teeth were gritted before his attention was caught by the woman once again, "Now, why don't we make things more... equal for you? You and the girl battle Houndour and Houndoom in a double battle. If you win... the girl is free to go and we'll release the pokémon and trainers currently at the Pokémon Center. You'll never hear from us again, Norman."

"And if we were to lose?"

"Your pokémon are mine and your daughter becomes a member of Team Rocket whether she wants to join or not. And don't say over your dead body; playing hero won't help you if all of your pokémon can't battle and I could burn you to a crisp with a simple order."

There was complete silence in the gym as I stared at the ceiling, the dog pokémon on either side of me staring at Kujaku to await further orders. This was just way too freaky... but they were going to steal Dad's pokémon and my own if we lost! Worse, I would be forced to steal pokémon for this woman and whoever else was in this 'Team Rocket!'

"...reluctantly I accept your challenge. However, my daughter has no pokémon with her-"

"She does. We spied earlier, she still has a Treecko."

Why did I have a really bad feeling about this? When the two pokémon got off of me I quickly scrambled to my feet and ran to Dad's side, "The sooner we beat this hag the better, right Dad?"

Apparently that comment had pissed her off. How did I know that? It was because Kujaku's eye twitched before she nodded towards the larger of the pokémon she had, that pokémon firing a flamethrower attack in my direction. I just barely managed to jump out of the way while Dad caught me, "You'll regret calling me that kid, _especially_ if you lose."

"Dream on!" Both Dad and I had shouted that before he smiled at me, returning every pokémon he had out except for Vigoroth. And then, it was my turn to release my own pokémon.

"Come on out, Jack!"

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I didn't know exactly how long it was before I was let out of my pokéball again. Regardless, I was out now, everything in front of me was still kind of blurry though. I stumbled backwards before shaking off the blurriness, my eyesight clearing enough to see the two growling mutts staring at me in the face. They weren't Poochyena or Mightyena that much I could tell; it looked like parts of their skeletons were on the outside, it gave them a sinister feel. To my left I saw a Vigoroth, one of idiot's pokémon; Alexa and Idiot were behind me. And yet, despite all of this, I still couldn't quite grasp what was going on.

Someone's voice was in the background; I couldn't tell who's and I couldn't tell what they were saying either. Blearily I blinked before I saw one of the black pokémon charging towards me; it was the smaller of the two, the larger went for the Vigoroth. I was actually preparing to get out of the way but ended up falling backwards, my head smacking hard against the ground. Alexa started to shout (which really made my ears ring, bloody human) and the mutt ended up jumping right over me before skidding a few metres behind my head.

That juice was _still_ affecting me; at any other time I'd consider it a good thing but there was a rabid mutt trying to tear out my throat so it wasn't the time to think about the juice.

"Stand up and fight! Do I really have to hit you while you're down?" I heard said rabid mutt growling at me before I sighed and got back to my feet; it wasn't a very steady stance but at least I wasn't stumbling everywhere anymore.

"Excuse me for having really strong Oran Juice. You should try the stuff I had, it was bloody brilliant..."

The smaller pokémon's face became flat while the Vigoroth and the other pokémon were scrapping in the other corner of the gym, right before some other human shouting; I really needed something to plug my ears with, these loud voices were killing me, "Houndour! Don't just stand there, torch the damn Treecko with Flamethrower!"

"I'm sorry about this," The mutt now known as Houndour sighed before the attack was charged and a massive stream of flame was being fired at me.

It seemed like the mutt disliked his trainer, so why didn't he just leave? That was a thought before I ended up stumbling to the side from the Oran Berry Juice, somehow escaping that attacked unscathed. The unfamiliar voice was shouting again, I turned to glare at the woman while she barked another order; "The damn thing is drunk, Houndour! Don't miss again!"

Fiery blasts were going all around me while I stumbled around the floor, each time missing and leaving me unharmed. I had to wonder if the damn mutt was missing on purpose as his blasts seemed to be hesitant, something I somehow picked up from him. Yes, I knew it was a male a while ago, don't you start on me... Just because I was drunk didn't mean I couldn't catch this sort of thing.

Something caught me off-guard though, one of the blasts caught me square in the chest and knocked me back several metres. When I shakily got to my feet this time though, I saw that my entire front (excluding my face, that part didn't hurt) was severely burned. I probably couldn't take out Houndour like I took out that Poochyena a couple of nights back... not without it hurting me at the same time.

Things around me began to seem clearer as I took in a deep breath; not even Trunk knew I had this move when I was with him. Unfortunately, before I could launch said move I was bowled over by Idiot's Vigoroth. I ended up getting thrown into the air because of it before landing on top of Vigoroth's back. It was out cold and apparently the pokémon with Houndour managed to bite its arm viciously before chucking it at me.

Apparently I was the last one standing in-between Alexa and Idiot against these two. So, there was only one thing I could do now...

Faint from the pain of the god-be-damned burn that Houndour gave me. I'd definitely feel that one whenever I woke back up...

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"Return," I bit my lower lip as I saw my poor, battered Treecko collapse at last. Kujaku smirked at us as Dad stepped defensively in front of me, right before shaking her head, "You can't break our deal now, Norman. The girl and your pokémon are coming with me as per our agreement, there's nothing you can do to stop me from taking them now. Just give up already."

"You will not touch my daughter," Dad growled while I ended up looking towards Kujaku; Dad was standing up for me but I still couldn't help but feel scared. The woman's eyes were probably more frigid than an Ice Beam, and it seriously creeped me out. However, Dad's whispering came into my ear, "Give me your Treecko and run, Alexa. Get back to the Pokémon Center as quickly as you can; I'll protect your Treecko and you won't be kidnapped."

I nodded slowly while Kujaku ordered the Houndour and the Houndoom to approach us; Dad's whispering went into my ear again as we watched them get closer, "Run on three. One... two... three!"

When that last word was said I bolted for the door, somehow running around the two pokémon and slipping right on through. I could hear Houndoom barking after me, Houndour must have stayed behind with its trainer to deal with Dad. _Damn it, the large one came after me. Just my luck._ When I turned a corner I ended up bumping into another person in a Team Rocket Uniform, said person roughly grabbing my arms and turning me around to face the Houndoom.

I was pinned at that point before I began to struggle and flail violently; if I was going down, it wouldn't be without a fight! "Let me go you jack ass!"

"Orders forbade anyone to leave the building. Besides..." I could hear the cruel laughter in the man's voice while he spoke into my ear now, something that caused me to shudder in disgust, "Kujaku told me that you're the new toy. Don't want to lose you so soon, so you've got no choice now but to come with us, kid."

Something sharp went into the base of my neck after the grunt had said that, mere seconds later I was becoming extremely tired, "Bastards... I'll get you for this..." Those were the last things that I managed to say before everything went black.

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Chaos had reigned at the strange building while I threw pokémon around left and right; there were some that my powers couldn't touch but Mudkip blasted those ones away easily. It must have been at least twenty minutes since the battle started before pokémon from outside started to fight away the pokémon that had been attacking us; soon all of them (along with the humans in the black suits) were gone, leaving only Greg, Mudkip, the red-headed human and I to face the human that had scared the rest away.

"Norman! Who were those guys?" Greg ran forward to the strange man before they began to talk to each other; I looked towards Mudkip then and saw that she wasn't any worse off than before; those pokémon had been no match for our combined team work. However, when the strange human and Greg approached us, I couldn't help but wonder why they both seemed so worried. It was then that the strange human kneeled down before me and closed his eyes, a sigh leaving him.

"I take it you're Alexa's pokémon?" I nodded hesitantly, still curious as to why this human was talking to me before some truly shocking news made me go numb entirely, "You fought well, but unfortunately not everyone managed to escape... Alexa was kidnapped by Team Rocket."

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Dun dun dun! Read and review or you won't get to see what happens to them all! That is all I'll say at the end of this chapter. Until then, you all take care!


	7. Location

I still couldn't believe that it had happened. I numbly stood there while I saw the new human taking a couple of pokéballs to the red headed human; what they said was clear but at the moment wasn't at all important to me. Mudkip had been returned to her pokéball before Greg also handed it over to the woman; blankly I stared at all of the humans while they looked to me. When they tried to suck me into the artificial environment of my pokéball though, I jumped back and shook my head violently; there was just no way! Alexa couldn't have been gone...!

"Aw geez, I forgot... that thing will only listen to her," Greg sighed while shaking his head at me, causing me to narrow my eyes at him (not that he could see it because of the veil on my head). The human didn't have to make it sound like I was some sort of delinquent! "We're never going to be able to work with Ralts like this. Might as well give up on him now..."

"We'll worry about that later. Right now the most important thing is to find wherever Team Rocket is keeping Alexa," The man talking to Greg closed his eyes while he shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest; I couldn't help but blink at how worried he seemed. It was almost like, to him, Alexa was... "Taming a Ralts is the last thing I'd worry about, considering the situation my daughter is in."

No wonder the man was worried. I remembered my parents being like that when those two pokémon came after us a year ago; they held the safety of my brother and me far above their own. They gave their lives to make sure we lived on... I snapped out of my memories before I looked up to the man, nodding towards him and approaching him. If his goal was to save and protect Alexa, I would support him. But only until she was safely out of there; I didn't have to trust him just yet...

The man blinked at me before giving me a weak smile and placing a gentle hand on my head, "Well, I guess you're on the same page, even if you don't like us. Can Nurse Joy take you in to make sure that you're in top shape before we start searching, little guy?"

I nodded in response before crawling out from underneath the man's hand; then, before I could do anything else, I saw a red beam of light coming towards me before said light jerked me forward. I ended up crying out when this happened, right before I looked around; I saw the place where I had been eating berries with my little brother... I was inside of the pokéball again.

I looked around before shaking my head and sitting down; I felt warm light coming from all around though... It was rather refreshing really. It made me feel like I had a lot of energy, even if I was a bit hungry at that point. However, something made me jump nearly right out of my skin while I felt this light; someone's voice was talking to me. It was distinctly female but I could tell it was a pokémon speaking with me through a telepathic connection.

"_So I see your trainer has been taken by Team Rocket. I suppose it is time for my interventions to begin,_" Wildly I looked around to find the source of the voice, but unfortunately there was no one there. Maybe I was going crazy... "_You're not losing your mind, Ralts. I really am here and I can hear your every thought._"

"Wah!" I cried out and fell backwards from that while still trying to pinpoint the location of the pokémon that was talking to me; was it possible that she was in my pokéball too? "Who are you? More importantly, _where_ are you?"

"_I'm not in your pokéball so don't bother looking,_" The voice began to laugh while I stared into empty space in the sky; honestly this was getting way too weird. Sure, psychic pokémon could speak with each other through this sort of connection, but from what I knew, they had to know what the other looked and sounded like at the very least! And I didn't recognize this voice at all... "_I'm more powerful than that. Besides, I've known who you were and what you sounded like since you were a newborn._"

"Stop reading my mind!" Frantically I shouted while shaking my head in a vain attempt to drive the other away.

"_Stop thinking so loudly and pay attention then,_" The voice sighed at me before something appeared in front of me; I had to blink and rub my eyes a couple of times before I realized that a projection of a star-shaped pokémon was only a few feet in front of my face, "_Your partner is currently unconscious on a bed so I can't really tell him too much at the moment-_"

"Partner?"

"_Jack, the Treecko your trainer had. You've met him before,_" I rolled my eyes at the memory, and what irritated me was that the voice chuckled soon after; she was reading my mind again! "_You two are part of something much larger than you could imagine, but you'll find out more about that later. Right now, the most important thing is to rescue your trainer, is it not?_"

I paused when the star-shaped pokémon mentioned Alexa; now that I wasn't infuriated with her for reading my mind, I frowned with the worry that began to plague me once more. There just wasn't any way to find her... the humans wearing black had left no trail to where they wanted to go. All I could remember was that they were going in a direction away from the large building I was in when Alexa's father had come in...

"_Stop getting lost in your own thoughts please; I'd rather you pay attention when I'm trying to give you valuable information, and I really dislike repeating myself when it's unnecessary,_" I jumped when the pokémon had sighed to herself; apparently I was the one who was being irritating at that point. Sheepishly I nodded towards her before she spoke to me again, using her mind once more, "_Now, I'm going to give you a visual on where the Team Rocket base is hidden. However, from where you are it will take at least three days on foot; things will happen to your trainer within that time, things that may or may not be irreversible._"

"What sorts of things?" I floated above the ground once more and began to approach the projection; one thing that really annoyed me was that she wasn't looking at me while she was talking to me; her eyes were closed the whole time! But, more importantly, she wasn't being specific on exactly where this base was going to be! "What's going to happen to Alexa?"

"_I cannot see into the future, Ralts. This is only a hypothesis of mine,_" The pokémon shook her head at me when I stopped, stunned while merely staring at her. So, that was it? "_I also cannot physically help you other than giving you the location; it is too soon..._"

"Too soon for what?"

"..."

"Hey!"

"_Someone else was talking to me. They want me to come down a lot sooner than I had planned,_" A sigh left the weird pokémon while she shook her head, I was just about to ask about what she was talking about before she interrupted, "_You'll know all that you need to when the time is right. Right now, I have to cut off my connection with you; here is the location I promised, Jack shall receive it too once he becomes conscious._"

All at once the world around me vanished, everything surrounding me becoming one big, black mass. I nearly panicked when I saw a light coming from below; when I looked more closely at it I saw an island below me, a cave where humans in black suits and pokémon were roaming together in and out of the entrance. Something was strange about those pokémon though... their eyes were hazed, as if they were in a hypnotic trance some psychic pokémon could use on others. But, before I could do anything, I was in the artificial environment of my pokéball again.

Honestly, I had to wonder if I was hallucinating or if that pokémon was really trying to help me. I didn't even get her name out of that experience though... _It's worth a shot. What harm could it do to search for Alexa there?_ I sighed to myself and looked around at the lush forest in the pokéball. The sooner I found Alexa, the sooner I could forget about the star-shaped pokémon and get on with my life...

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Bright lights were probably the first things I saw when I woke up again. I shielded my eyes when this happened before looking over my body; for only taking one shot I really came out badly from that fight. There was white cloth on every inch of my body (except probably my head, right now I couldn't tell but it didn't feel like there was anything new there); it made moving a little tougher but at least I could still move. _Bloody Houndour had to burn me this badly... at least nothing worse could have possibly happened while I was knocked out._

But, unfortunately, in a couple of seconds I'd find out exactly how wrong I was.

"It looks like Treecko finally woke up..." Idiot was here, he just walked into the room when I stared at him, "I take it you don't know the bad news yet?"

"If it doesn't involve a shortage of Oran Berries I'm not interested," I rolled my eyes at him before looking behind him to see Mudkip and Greg coming in. Great, just what did those two want? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good; they all (Idiot included) had expressions on their faces like the one Alexa had when she was talking about her mother. None of them were happy, in fact now I was starting to get curious about how they could possibly be so upset. And then, I noticed that there was someone missing from the little group, "Oiy, why isn't Alexa with you all? I don't see here anywhere, I thought she'd be worried enough to check on her favourite Treecko."

Mudkip only closed her eyes and shook her head at me which caused a bit more confusion to set in. Just what was going on that they weren't telling me? It was almost as if someone had died, they were so serious!

"Jack," This time Greg was talking to me; I almost disliked him as much as Idiot but he definitely said something worthy of my attention this time, "Norman told me about what happened... while you were knocked out, Alexa was kidnapped by Team Rocket."

... well, that explained why they were so serious all of a sudden. I ended up frowning a bit before my eyes turned towards Mudkip, "I guess if that's true, we have only one thing left to do..."

"And that would be?" Mudkip jumped up onto the bed to talk to me while the humans simply watched as we conversed amongst ourselves; it wasn't like they'd be able to understand us but it seemed like they were trying anyway. Bloody gits... "What do we have to do now?"

"Drink that strong Oran Berry Juice I had earlier!"

I couldn't help but find it amusing, the way Mudkip fell onto the floor after I had said that. But seriously, what were we going to be able to do if Alexa really had been taken by that woman and her two mutt pokémon? Unless we had some sort of idea about where she was taken there was no point in wasting my time and energy over it...

"I take it he said something stupid," Greg sighed while he got confirmation from Mudkip, but in all honesty I didn't think it was stupid at all; what was a better way to pass the time than drinking Oran Berry Juice? "You talk to him while I discuss things with Norman, okay Mudkip?"

Great, I was going to get lectured. I sighed when Mudkip jumped back onto the table, and the moment the humans left she went off on me, "Drinking Oran Berry Juice? _Your trainer just got kidnapped and that is all you can think about?_"

Looked like I made her mad. I tried to put on my best smile and took the intelligent approach, "Well, if I hadn't fainted I would have run anyway, damned burn..."

Maybe telling the truth _wasn't_ so smart, something I found out when I was whacked with Mudkip's tail rather harshly, "Bloody... what was that for?"

"You're so insensitive! What happened to the Jack who attacked the one Poochyena I couldn't fend off? You actually were trying to help _defend_ your trainer then, what happened to that?"

"You're even more annoying than the last Mudkip I had to deal with," I sighed while dully looking around the room; this was boring, listening to that water pokémon going on about how I should have been more responsible and caring than that. It wasn't the most important thing in the world... "I don't see why you're getting so worked up over it. She's not your trainer."

"No, but she is yours! And, if you haven't noticed, the guys who took her are out to hurt people and pokémon! What do you think is going to happen to her when her pokémon is doing nothing but getting drunk?" She was glaring at me but honestly I didn't care; something other than Oran Berry Juice started to get into my head, a thought of something else I needed.

"Will you shut up? I want to go to sleep."

Again I had said the wrong thing; just narrowly I avoided Mudkip's tail slamming against my head again. This time though, she just kept coming which was really beginning to exhaust me; I was still only at half-strength after all, seeing as the damned burn was still there. And then, I was hit square in the chest with a stream of water Mudkip had fired at me, causing me to fall onto the floor. The shock of pain coaxed a groan out of me before I shook my head, "Take it easy! You're fighting an injured pokémon, is that really your style?"

Finally, something I said that made her stop going after me instead of starting her up again. I couldn't help but sigh in relief as Mudkip jumped off of the table and looked at me apologetically, "I'm sorry... I guess I'm just mad at myself; first, I lost to that Gym Leader's pokémon, then I couldn't stop those guys in black from taking away Greg's friend."

I had to wonder exactly what a 'Gym Leader' was but I wouldn't ask about it; my bastardous mouth just couldn't be stopped from saying something idiotic, "So blaming me is your outlet for your own failures then?"

I expected her to attack me again after that, but it never came; instead she sat down and looked to the floor before her eyes closed. Bloody... she was going to cry wasn't she? I hated it when girls turned on the tears; that was what that Mudkip and Torchic did whenever I didn't laugh at their jokes...

_At least this one's reasoning is better._ I sighed before approaching Mudkip and talking to her again; I wasn't going to make her listen but it was worth a shot if I could keep her from being too noisy, "Look, you did all you could. All you can do is rest and regain your strength to try again another day. At least you still have that chance, right?"

I thanked whatever gods there might have been then. It actually seemed to have worked. She stopped and blinked at me before nodding with a weak smile, "Right... you should rest too. I guess if I was facing a couple of grass pokémon at full strength while I was weakened, I would run too. Now... I'm going to go get some rest with Greg, you get better too okay?"

"Don't know how I'm going to get better but some bloody Oran Berry Juice would help," Mudkip gave me a flat look while I smirked, right before she shook her head and left the room through the sliding metal door. It was then that I gingerly climbed back onto the bed and just sat there, allowing sleep to consume me. At least, I thought it was sleep until I realized someone in the room was trying to get my attention. I didn't care who it was... they were disturbing me. Unless they had a damned good reason for trying to wake me up (like another bottle of that juice) then it wouldn't be any of my concern...

"Go away. I'm trying to sleep."

"_I can't do that. I need to talk to you and I won't stop pestering you until you pay attention to me._"

Ah, some psychic pokémon was trying to mess with my head. It wasn't the Ralts that Alexa had captured either, it was a different pokémon. A female one, she sounded like one of those types who was always happy. It wasn't like I cared though... I was going to pelt this one with the rudest line I could come up with at the time; "Look, I don't know who you are but I am trying to sleep. If you don't leave me alone I'm going to kick you to the bloody moon."

"_I'm already on the moon. And, even if I wasn't, I doubt you could do something like that._"

...whatever the hell this pokémon was on, I wanted to know where I could get some.

A low yawn left me when I sat up, although something really made me wonder; where did the bed and the Pokémon Center go? I was floating in black space with this weird star-shaped pokémon in front of me. And, when I looked below, I saw that we were floating above a cave with the people in black going in and out, along with their pokémon.

"What kind of bloody dream is this?"

The pokémon kept her eyes closed while a smile tugged at her lips, right before she made that telepathic connection with me, "_This is more of a vision than a dream. I'm showing you where your trainer is._"

"Yeah..."

"_This isn't an effect from the juice you had earlier, even if it may seem like it is,_" She chuckled at me while I could do nothing but blink at her; just what the heck was she playing at? "_This is where your trainer is being held prisoner by Team Rocket. Your trainer's other pokémon, Ralts, also knows this location by now._"

"Ya huh... and you're not just some hallucination cause by that strong Oran Berry Juice?"

"_Ask Ralts when you wake up to confirm whether or not I'm a dream or if I'm real. Regardless, I have to leave now; it's a shame, I had more of a conversation with Ralts. But, you will see me again._"

I realized that the star-shaped pokémon was fading now, fading into the black that surrounded us. However, before she disappeared completely she said one more thing; "_By the way, humans call that refined juice 'Wine.' I thought it would be a fact of your interests._"

"Uhm... thanks," And then, she was gone. When I blinked I was sitting up on the table again. About a minute later, Nurse Joy, Idiot, Greg, Mudkip and Ralts came into the room when I hopped off of the table. Moving was still a little difficult because of the burns but whatever Nurse Joy had used on me was working wonders... it hardly hurt at all by that point.

"Hey, Ralts?" The other pokémon turned to me, but unfortunately I had caught Mudkip's attention too; honestly she was one of the last pokémon I wanted to talk to about drunken hallucinations but there was no better time to ask about it, "You didn't get visited by some crazy star-shaped pokémon did you?"

"Ah... so she did tell you too then," Ralts squeaked out the words with a nod, right before he looked up to Idiot, "I guess we'd better get going then. I was able to communicate to Alexa's father about the location I saw; he knows where it is. We're going to a place called Dewford Island."

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I'm sorry, I have to end this chapter here. Big thanks to all of the people who reviewed! For all of those who haven't been; suggestions on how to improve the style of my writing (less confusion between POVs, pointing out some verb tense confusions I may have put down, ect.) or correcting me on some facts about the pokémon universe that I may have been wrong about would really help a lot! Keep reading, I promise another update will come soon!


	8. Dispair

An advanced apology; we don't get to see Ralts, Jack or the rest of them in this chapter. This time, it's focused mainly around Alexa and I'm also introducing a newer character into the bunch. You'll see what I mean later in the chapter. For now, I'll stop taking up your time and let you read the story. Hope you like it because it was a very inspired one to me, even if it is a bit short.

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This was definitely one of those days where I really hated head aches. Blearily I opened my eyes while rubbing my head, it felt like someone was pounding a huge drum stick against it. And, damn it all; a drum stick somehow lead to the thought of food. Not only did I have a bad head ache but it felt like I hadn't eaten in days...

I blinked when I finally took notice of my surroundings though; I was in a cell with rock walls on the sides, ceiling and the ground with only the metal bars and door in front of me. Down the hall I could see lights, the bastards probably had those every so often so that they wouldn't trip and kill themselves in the dark. Immediately I could tell that where I was being kept was worse than a jail cell though; jail cells had beds, toilets and sinks. This was just a bare cell to keep me in. _I'm being treated worse than a convict... How could things possibly get any worse?_

Later I would regret asking myself that question.

Footsteps started to sound down at the left end of the hallway while a person's shadow began to form outside of the cell door; great, someone was either just patrolling or they were coming to see me. Either way it couldn't be good... if I was stronger I probably would have gone and kicked their ass, but as it was my head was killing me and I was starving. When said patroller stopped outside of the door, he slid a tray through a slot on the door, "Oiy, you'd better eat; don't want you to starve to death on us..."

I recognized that voice; it was the guy who had used the tranquilizer on me when I tried to run out of the gym. And, when I saw the disgusting gruel he wanted me to eat, there was only one thing I could do; take the tray and then throw it at the door. With satisfaction I watched it go all over his face, right before spitting at him, "Then I'll just go and do that! I'm not letting you use me!"

"Fucking... fine, I don't care if you starve to death you little brat! Let someone else get this shit in their face..." While grumbling the guy stormed off, apparently I had pissed him off enough to drive him away for a few hours at least. But, that left me with a problem; I still had nothing to eat.

After collapsing against the back wall of the cell again, I sighed and looked up at the ceiling while trying to think of things that would take me away from the pounding skull I possessed. I could only hope that Jack and Ralts got out all right... Dad too, along with his pokémon, hell I even hoped Greg was okay. But, there was just no way they weren't okay... I would have seen or heard them by that point if Team Rocket got to them, wouldn't I? And then, there was the issue on how the hell I would get out of there.

So far, this cell was impenetrable for me. The guard had given me food through a little slot so I couldn't wait until he opened the door to run out... and even if the door had been opened, I probably wouldn't be strong enough outrun the guard or even slip past him. And then, I still didn't know exactly what these bastards were planning to do with me... _Whatever it is, it can't be good._

I jumped slightly when I heard someone coming again; so they were coming for more abuse? There were more of them this time though... Then, I noticed that the first shadow was different; an all-too-familiar voice echoed down the hall only a second before I knew exactly who it was, "So you're going to be stubborn and not eat? Fine... I guess that means we have to surprise you a lot sooner than planned."

"And this surprise is a visit from you, hag?"

I received a glare from Kujaku when she came up to the door; she was flanked by three grunts in the same black suits that one guy wore earlier. Then, her glare slowly turned into a smirk before she signalled for one of the grunts to open the cage door, "You're taking part in a little experiment, kid. One that will test your loyalty to Team Rocket..."

"What loyalty? You guys are just a bunch of filthy pokémon thieves; I'd never work for bastards like you!"

After I had said that, from no where the strength to run came; I tackled the grunt that had opened the cage out of my way and began to run towards the door Kujaku and her cronies had come from. Something that came only moments after really started to make my heart race though; a loud alarm began to sound while red lights from the ceiling began to flash (honestly I hadn't noticed them before they turned on).

I couldn't feel my head anymore, and my stomach wasn't bugging me either; all that mattered was running like hell to whatever seemed like a way out. There were corridors upon corridors in this place though... one wrong turn would probably be the end of any hope when it came to getting out of that shit hole. Unfortunately, said turn came a lot sooner than I had expected.

Right in my face was a grunt when I turned right at one corner; his hat was pulled so low over his head that all I could really see were the colour of his skin, his nose and his lips. When I turned tail to run back in the other direction, the guy's voice came through the air as I heard the familiar sound of a pokéball opening and releasing the pokémon inside, "Metagross, use confusion to stop her."

One moment I was running for my life, the next I was frozen in mid-air. I couldn't even struggle as I found that we had caught Kujaku's eye; she began to approach with a smirk on her face and some strange headset in her hand, causing a sinking feeling to settle in my gut... and, again, she was flanked by those three grunts, only this time they had their pokémon with them, the Houndour and Houndoom I had previously battled included in the bunch.

"Good work. I know catching pests is beneath you but you did your job well," I gritted my teeth at that (and then found that I could still move my face at least) as Kujaku's eyes closed with the malicious laughter that rang in my ears. And then, as the woman stepped closer I glared into her stormy eyes when she smirked again, holding up the headset I had been eyeing, "Now that you're sticking around..."

I spat in her face then, earning a disgusted look from the woman while the alarms in the background finally died down. She wiped off the saliva before glaring daggers at me; maybe I shouldn't have pissed her off so much, but it was my turn to feel nauseous when she spoke to me again, "I'm going to love you so much more when you're a mindless slave. If the damn device doesn't work then a psychic pokémon will have to do..."

I couldn't move because of the confusion attack still being used on me, and as such I couldn't even try to bite Kujaku when she took off my baseball cap and put on the metal contraption that wrapped around the back of my head. And then, her face was right in mine while her hand went to my right ear, "I'll warn you now, just to be courteous; this is going to hurt. A lot."

I hated that smirk on her face so much that I just had to give another one of my opinions of the agent before she activated whatever was on my head, something that made her face darken and that smirk go away almost immediately.

"You are such an ugly bitch."

Instantly after a click in my right ear I began to hear a high-pitched screeching coming from all around, my eyes clamping shut with the pain that I felt with it. My head ache from earlier was nothing compared to this!

I was screaming by that point, begging for it to stop, begging for the noise to stop and for the pain to leave. Everything was causing the noise, everything was hurting me... I wasn't sure if I was on the ground by this point or if I was still being restrained. Regardless, I was struggling with all of my remaining strength before it became too much; now everything was starting to fade. Weakly I opened my eyes before they slid shut again, in that brief moment I saw I was on the ground before I slowly lost my world. There was nothing I could do... I was powerless, something else was taking over. Only two thoughts I would manage to remember came out then.

_Help me..._

_Please..._

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I could only watch as my master used the device on that other human. Actually, I couldn't even do that; when the human girl began to flail about and scream I had to close my eyes and flatten my ears in order to shut out her experience. It was only when the noise stopped that I looked towards her again; she was sprawled out on the ground now, tears in her weakened eyes before they closed. And then...

They opened again. But, they didn't have the vitality that the girl had before, nor did her face give off any sort of emotion. It was then that she stood up, right before bowing to my master and speaking to her, her voice also an expressionless void, "Kujaku, I apologize for my words. I ask for your forgiveness and for the privilege to serve as a member of Team Rocket."

My master smirked at that before nodding to the grunts, "The device is working. I'll report the results to the boss, the rest of you are dismissed. Good work in apprehending her, Executive."

"Of course, Kujaku. I was only doing my job," The man my master was talking to nodded before turning to his pokémon, "Metagross, return. You did well."

When the other human walked away, I looked to Houndoom before I looked at the ground, following my master and the human girl slowly. I know I should have felt victorious because the job was done, but... it still felt like I had done something wrong.

"Houndour. Hurry up or Master will leave you behind again," My ears perked at Houndoom's voice before I ran forward to catch up with her and with our master. Once I had done so the other rolled her eyes at me before she spoke to me again, "I saw you squirming when Master used the device on that kid. Don't be so squeamish in the future, it's sickening to watch."

My eyes fell slightly at that, watching me squirm wasn't the sickening thing. Ever since our Master had caught us, we had been forced to do terrible things. Countless other pokémon had been hurt because of us, and something else I noticed was a change in Houndoom's disposition. She used to care about the lives of others, whether or not our actions would hurt them, but now...

She had changed so much since Master caught us. She was no longer the older sister I remembered; she hadn't been that pokémon for a long time.

"Sister," I noticed Houndoom's eyes going to me when I addressed her in such a manner; it was a glare that told me never to use that name for her again, "What do you think of what we do? I don't see how Master can hurt another human in such a manner without feeling anything..."

"She does feel things, _Brother_," I felt the mockery used to identify me when she looked on ahead, right before I saw her fanged smirk aimed towards our master, "She feels pleasure from watching such acts and from exacting revenge on those who wronged her. She smiled when she heard that human screaming. And, I did too."

I winced when Houndoom said that before I looked towards the ground again; the bad feeling in my stomach just wouldn't go away. I felt sorry for that human girl, sorry that she was controlled through such vicious means. What we were doing wasn't right at all... it was terrible and hurt others too much. I wanted so badly to run from this place, but that would be no way to atone. Besides, Houndoom and our master would catch up with me long before I could dream of escaping this place and these people...

It was a short time more before we reached the place where our master wanted to go; we were now in a room full of bright lights coming from the devices humans called 'computers.' Then, my master pushed a button on the computers before the image of another man showed up, right before she began to speak, "Giovanni, this is the report on our Mind Control device in the Hoenn Region. Do you accept this information?"

"Get on with it," It sounded like the other human was irritable, as if something else was on his mind. My master seemed to notice this as well but she didn't say anything as the human on the computer screen spoke again, "Please tell me at least one thing went well today."

"It works to full capacity; the subject feels pain when the device is first activated but after that is entirely loyal to Team Rocket. Long-term observations have yet to be made," With one of her hands raised to her forehead Kujaku kept looking up to the screen while speaking, "The subject it is being tested with was previously the daughter of the Gym Leader Norman in the Hoenn Region; someone who absolutely despised people like Team Rocket."

This seemed to give interest to the man on the other end before he nodded and asked something else of my master, "Show her to me. I want to see for myself exactly how well it works on human test subjects."

"Understood, sir. You go up to the screen," When my master stepped away from the screen the other human girl approached it upon my master's order, staring up at it with nothing but obedience in her eyes. I couldn't help but feel another sickening flip in my stomach as I heard what she said.

"Good evening, Master Giovanni. I am honoured to meet you at last and to pledge my loyalty to both yourself and to Team Rocket."

"Hm... continue observation and report to me in a fortnight, Kujaku. If it continues to remain successful then your promotion to Executive will be secured and immediate."

"Sir!" The screen shut off immediately, leaving us all in a slightly darker room; light from the other screens was enough for me to see the smirk on my master's face before she held the chin of the human girl in her hand, "Kid, you're the key to my promotion. Now that you're not mouthing off at me, anyway."

I saw that, without warning, she returned Houndoom to her pokéball before the same action was taken with me; all around I saw the fiery, near-barren land where I used to live before I was captured. It was there that I sat before I gave a low howl of frustration; it just made me angry, how I couldn't do anything about what was happening to the people my master wanted to deal with!

Would there be any way to stop it all and atone for what I had already done...?

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Yay, we get to see Houndour's thoughts on the whole mess! I hope you enjoy reading things from his point of view as much as I enjoyed writing it, I thought he would be a fun pokémon to get the moral issues about what he, his sister and his master are doing in the world. I promise that in the next chapter we'll get back to Ralts and Jack, but for now I have to leave it there. Read and review, I want to know what you all think! Again, big thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed so far!


	9. Captain Briney

Before the actual author's note, big shout out to all of those who have reviewed so far! I really appreciate the feedback on the chapters as well as hearing that you've actually read **Tales of Flame** and **Anomaly** (Respectively authored by **Buwaro** and **Dark Magician Girl Aeris**)! Okay, I advertised unintentionally there, that might happen. But anyway...

All right, now we've seen that Alexa is currently a mindless slave. And there might be someone on the inside that may help change things but doesn't know how yet. But, I also understand that you may have questions and/or conclusions about the characters and the roles they're playing, what they may have done to each other that I haven't mentioned, and so on. But, unfortunately... **you'll have to keep reading to find out more for yourselves**. Hah! Yes, I like being an arse like that. But, I've taken up enough of your time, on with Chapter 9!

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Finally, we began to set off on our journey. Norman had wanted us to stay in 'Petalburg City' to get some supplies before heading off to search for Alexa. We didn't have to wait around any longer... our rescue mission could begin.

There was silence as our little group continued onward once we left the huge group of buildings. I saw Jack boredly looking around while he walked to my left, Mudkip determinedly staring ahead while she was on my right. Norman and Greg were behind us, by this point Greg had released a new pokémon to fly over us in order to search for any sight of the cave Jack and I had seen in case it wasn't on this 'Dewford Island.' I knew immediately it was related to Taillow, later learning it was the evolved form and was called Swellow. But, other than that... I didn't really know anything about the newest pokémon in my life.

It didn't matter that much though. What really mattered was finding Alexa and getting her away from those people in black. Soon enough the humans stopped though; I looked back with Mudkip and Jack to see exactly why. It looked like we were at some old wooden structure that humans built. It wasn't at all like the one where we had stayed to rest though, nor was it like the one where we got supplies from; it was just different, somehow.

"Ralts, are you ready to go inside? Professor Birch told me about a man named Briney over the phone; we're going to go see him and ask him for help," I blinked when Norman began to speak to me again before I hesitantly nodded; if he was doing all he could to help Alexa, then working with him would be the best possible thing for me to do, even if I didn't like him all that much.

I floated in behind Mudkip, Norman and Greg, Swellow being returned to its pokéball while Jack strutted in behind me as if he didn't have a care in the world. I don't know why, but it made me a little sore with him; it was almost as if he didn't really care about Alexa being kidnapped by those people in black or about what might happen to her if we didn't get there soon. I'd have to have a little chat with him later...

"Mr. Briney?" I looked forward to see an old human coming to the door of the building. He inspected our little group before sighing and giving Norman a weak smile, right before Norman began to speak again, "I guess you already know the circumstances, Professor Birch must have already told you-"

"I haven't sailed for years... Norman, is it?" The old man asked before Norman nodded towards him. Then, he sighed again before shaking his head at both Norman and Greg, "I'm afraid I don't have any boats in good enough condition to sail to Dewford Island, and then I have to take care of Peecko..."

"What about that boat tied to the dock over there?" Greg intervened, pointing towards the craft (I assumed it was a 'boat') while continuing on, "That boat looks like it's ready to go at any time! And the sooner we can go, the sooner we can get Alexa away from Team Rocket!"

Before I knew it the humans were in an argument; Norman and Greg seemed to be getting more and more upset over the matter while the older human remained stone cold. I wanted to do something but... there was no real way to communicate with the old man without a telepathic connection, and even then I wasn't sure that he'd listen to me. I knew where I could turn my frustrated mind to, however.

I drifted towards Jack, who was just sitting on the floor while watching the humans fight. He didn't even seem upset about how long this was taking...! "You don't even _look_ worried! Alexa is counting on us to save her and all you're doing is sitting there!"

"There's no point in wasting my energy over it, there's nothing I can do about anything for the time being," I felt even more annoyed with Jack as he closed his eyes, right before he sighed and opened one of them while looking away from me, "What're you staring at, birdy?"

"My name is Peecko, not Birdy."

My attention turned to the pokémon Jack had been speaking too before I blinked; I recognized her as 'Wingull' and knew immediately from her voice that she was a girl at least. Then, her pitch-black eyes turned to me before going to my left, towards Mudkip, "I suppose you are guests of Captain Briney. He hasn't been at sea for a very long time though..."

"Please, you've got to get him to help us!" I moved towards Peecko in an attempt to get her attention; it seemed to have done the trick because her eyes were on me once more, "My trainer is in a lot of trouble! We know that she's on this island the other humans want to go to, and if we don't hurry then something bad might happen to Alexa!"

"What would you do without your trainer, Peecko? Would you do anything to get him back safely?" Mudkip interrupted me while she began to speak to the flying pokémon; I could understand why Mudkip could be calmer about the situation than I was but I still couldn't help but squirm; I just had a bad feeling about Alexa, what if those humans in black had already done something to her?

It was then I noticed exactly how silent it was in the room; the humans had stopped talking in favour of staring at us while Peecko seemed to be thinking about what Mudkip had just said. Then, the Wingull sighed before words began to slip though her beak, words that would have made me jump for joy had I not already been floating, "I would do anything to get Captain Briney back if anything happened to him. It wouldn't be fair to ask for help from others in that situation if I didn't give it to others with the same problem; I'll talk to the Captain."

I ended up tackling Mudkip and hugging her tightly while Peecko flew up to the older human's shoulder; Mudkip squeaked when I did this as I began to... show my gratitude, for lack of better terms, "Thank you so much! Because of you we're going to get Alexa back!"

"It's no trouble... really... I can't breathe."

I felt my face become really hot as I crawled off of the other pokémon, she was gasping for breath as I hung my head in embarrassment, "Sorry about that..."

"Don't wet yourself yet, we still have to get her away from those humans remember?"

I froze when Jack had said that; he was right, we were going to get to where Alexa was being kept but we still had to make sure she got out of there... I looked towards him again to see that his eyes had closed, right before my attention was swiftly caught by the older human speaking.

"Everyone, we're getting onto the boat. Apparently Peecko thinks it's a good idea to help you, and who am I to argue? Let's set sail!"

"All right! Whatever you said Mudkip, it worked. Thanks a bunch," Greg patted Mudkip gently on the head while grinning, and honestly that grin was infectious; I could feel a smile coming onto my face as I floated out behind everyone else... or, I thought I was behind everyone else until I looked back at Jack.

He had _fallen asleep_. He would pay dearly for that...

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I was starting to get a strong distaste for psychic pokémon. They kept waking me up and didn't have any Oran Berries or Oran Berry 'Wine' with them to make up for it.

When we got onto the wooden boat above the water I plopped down against a nearby wall to rub the bump on my head; Ralts had thrown me across the room of the house we were in while I was sleeping. Part of the reason why I was developing earlier-mentioned distaste for psychic pokémon...

"It's going to take two days before this boat reaches Dewford Island," I could hear the old man everyone kept calling 'Briney' saying that to Greg and Idiot before the boat began to move; I rolled to the side a little before managing to keep my balance as we started going out to sea, "I don't want to over-exert the engine or it might break down, leaving us stranded in the middle of the ocean."

"That's fine," Idiot nodded towards the man before he looked out at the sea with Greg; that probably meant I'd have a chance to catch up on lost sleep. How wonderful for me. Unfortunately, that thought was short-lived as I saw Mudkip approaching me (thankfully psycho-Ralts wasn't with her at the time).

"What do you want?"

"You should really change the bandages over your burn, Jack..."

"It doesn't hurt anymore, don't bother me about it," I would later question myself why I had to prove a point as I ripped off the bandages; the burn on my stomach hadn't quite healed yet so it stung a little when it was exposed to the air. Mudkip must have noticed because she frowned at me then, "Hey. Stop looking at me like that, I'm fine."

"You're also reckless," A sigh left Mudkip before she gently squirted the burn with water; I blinked before laying back and relaxing a little, it actually felt good when she wasn't trying to kill me with the water, "There. That should keep it from getting infected at least..."

"Thanks. Now if only there was some Oran Berry Juice on this thing..."

I would probably never get tired of seeing Mudkip fall over whenever I mentioned that drink. Really, I wouldn't, I laughed a little when she did before shaking my head, "Oh come on! I'm thirsty so of course it's the first thing that's going to come to mind!"

"You're some piece of work..."

"Hey, love me or leave me," I smirked again at the look on Mudkip's face, it was almost as if she took me seriously when I said that. She should have known better than that by now, honestly, "Now do you know where to get some wine or not?"

Mudkip must have stared at me for a full five seconds before she finally asked, "Wine?"

Oops, I guess I must have let that slip. It was time to bull shit an excuse; I wasn't about to start talking about drunken fantasies again, "Overheard it from the humans. That's what they call the juice when they make it stronger. Damn is that stuff ever good..."

"I'll take your word for it," And then, Mudkip walked away, leaving me to lie on the side of the cabin and take in the sun's rays. I was far enough away from the boat's edge so that the water didn't spray on me, leaving me to bask in the rays that fell upon me.

I had to admit... this was the way to live, and it was a true shame that it wouldn't last for too long. We had to go and rescue Alexa after all... maybe I could just ditch that mission and stay here for the rest of my days? It was relaxing after all, but then I realized I'd get tired of that and move on again. Everything had to be taken in bits and pieces after all, and if I didn't then I would get too bored too quickly.

And, that train of thought ended in the form of the most recently added tiny distaste in my life.

"Jack! Mudkip! Look ahead!" Ralts cried out for us before I sighed and got to my feet; he probably wouldn't shut up if I didn't go, or worse he would toss me off of the boat if I didn't go. As lazy as I was, I wasn't stupid. Well, at least not _that_ stupid.

"What the bloody hell do you... what in the world is that?"

I couldn't help but blink at the craft that was ahead of us; I remember from Trunk's lab, it was called a submarine. Trunk used one to look at water pokémon but this one was a lot larger... it was really an odd thing to see, and then I heard the old man, Idiot and Greg yelling something before something else collided with the wood below; Mudkip, Ralts and I were sent flying. I yelped when this happened, right before viewing the ocean below for a few seconds. There was only one thought on my mind before we hit the water...

_There had better be booze where I'm going._

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I'm a horrible person for leaving cliff hangers like that for you, huh? Too bad! This wasn't a great chapter for me to write in all honesty, but at least it's up, right? And hey, more will come soon! I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to get up by the way... I was stuck at home with the flu. I'm better now (or at least I hope I'm better, it might come back with a vengeance). And, Chapter 10 is going to be a smash, I can tell you that much. Ignore the pun. Read and Review, thank you to those who have read and reviewed up to this point, read those fics I keep telling you to read if you haven't already and I'll see you all next update!


	10. Intervention

And I'm back again! I'm here fighting off sickness just so I can update this fanfic. Is it because I love you people? Well, there's that... but, there's also the fact that I love this fanfic too damn much to leave it alone. If it was all about the reviews, I'd wait for longer periods to update it. But, for those of you who do bother to read these and the story over all (that's important, duh), thank you for the hits and for the reviews! It's really encouraging for an author (whether they be male or female) to hear praise and it's also helpful when they hear constructive criticism, I kid you not. It's also fun to see people guessing plot turns and twists whether they're accurate or not, and now I'll stop taking up your time... after one last thing.

_If you haven't done so already, read **Tales of Flame** and **Anomaly** (respectively authored by **Buwaro** and **Dark Magician Girl Aeris**)!_

They are complimentary stories to each other and they're damned good. There are other reasons why I'm telling you to read them, but that will come up later in my own fanfic. For now... on with the chapter!

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Well, so much for a watery grave.

I looked around to see everyone on the boat; Mudkip and Ralts had gotten back on because the latter of the two used his psychic powers to toss them both back on. Idiot was soaking wet but apparently Greg and the old man had pulled him out of the water and back on deck. Which made me sigh, couldn't win them all now could I? And as for me...

That beak mark on my tail was now replacing the mark those glass doors had given me a couple of days back.

I sighed as I looked at the redness on my tail before going over what had just happened; the humans had started shouting at something before something else collided with the front of the boat. Thankfully it didn't tear down that area of the boat but I still had to wonder exactly what did that. And why too, I guessed, but it could just be a territorial pokémon.

Unfortunately, I turned out to be right.

"Get out of here, you mangy land lubbers! This is the territory of me and my crew, and if you don't leave right now I'm gonna tear a hole through yer hull!"

I approached the deck then to see who the heck was blabbering at us, and then I saw; she was a Sharpedo and apparently we had sailed into her home by accident. Behind her I could see two more surfacing; and, to my left I could see Peecko before her squawking began to ring in my ears. Bloody bird...

"Don't you dare touch Captain Briney's ship again or you're Sushi!"

"Dare you to come in here and say that, Gull Meat!"

"... I'm lost. What are Sushi and Gull Meat?"

Ralts had asked my question for me. And honestly, I had no idea what they were either. We both got stared at by the Sharpedo and the Wingull before they went back to their name-calling contest; who won, I wasn't sure. I couldn't be damned to keep score. Regardless of who won, the boat shook again when one of the Sharpedo behind their leader tackled it.

"Oiy, take it easy! Some of us don't want to take another swim!" I ended up shouting that out while hanging onto one of the metal bars of the railing, and to my left I could see Ralts and Mudkip doing the same. However, what made me shiver was the toothy grin the lead Sharpedo gave me after I had said that; bloody hell, were her teeth ever sharp...

"That's the idea, land lubber. Yer going to be swimmin' with the fishes if you don't turn this vessel right around and go back to where you came from!"

"Briney, why didn't you tell us we were going into Sharpedo-infested waters?" Greg was yelling at the old man, I only noticed this now because this time his voice was too difficult to shut out. They had been arguing the whole time but still... most of it I was able to tune out.

"This is the fastest path to Dewford! It would take another day if I navigated around their territory," The old man sighed while shaking his head, "And you young people wanted to get to Dewford as soon as you possibly could. I can't blame you after hearing your story, but still..."

"Go Linoone!"

Idiot had thrown a pokéball into the air before a weird, furry pokémon appeared in the water; it looked like it might have been related to Zigzagoon but I didn't think too deeply into it; what was strange about it was that it was out-swimming the Sharpedo.

"Jack, that pokémon and Peecko can't do this alone! You've got to help them, you're probably the strongest against them and they're in trouble!" Mudkip was yelling in my ear before I noticed the other pokémon dive-bombing the sharks that pursued the Linoone. It looked like they were doing just fine to me... but, I didn't get much choice in the matter when there was a very impulsive Ralts who was more than ready to dangle me above the fighting.

Did I forget to mention that he had just done so?

"Bloody... fine, fine! Just make sure not to drop me then," I glared back at the Ralts on the boat; I swore that he was smirking at me while doing that, bloody psychic... It was then that I sighed before taking in a deep breath. I never got to use this attack against the bloody Houndour but these Sharpedo were going to be the first to taste it. And then...

I blew out a lot more than air, I can tell you that much; bright green orbs of light began to pelt the Sharpedo rapidly while I kept simply shooting at them. I guess Alexa knew I could use this attack if it was taught to me, something I thought about while temporarily reminiscing about how I got my nickname. But, now definitely wasn't the time for that.

What surprised me was that Ralts was actually weaving me out of the way when it came to oncoming water guns from the pokémon below; I half-expected him to let me take the barrage. It seemed to have an ulterior motive aside from keeping me safe however; this was scaring the Sharpedo beyond all reason.

"Retreat! Enemy fire is too powerful! Return fire isn't hitting the target! Retreat!" With that final shout from the lead Sharpedo all three ducked into the water, the Linoone Idiot had released earlier crawling back onto the dock before being returned to its pokéball.

Something was wrong though... I was getting closer to the water. I looked back to see Ralts beginning to collapse, Mudkip was holding him up. That probably meant that my luck was just about to run out.

And when it did I plummeted and went straight into the water. I looked around before trying to swim to the surface; unfortunately, what I didn't know was that those three Sharpedo weren't the only ones in these waters.

A jelly-fish thing had floated up to me and grabbed at me with one of its tentacles before the rest wrapped tightly around me. The little oxygen I had escaped me then, and I could tell that trying to breathe would be pointless; even if I could, all I would get was water. I could feel life slowly draining out of me, but only one regretful thought was in my mind...

_I didn't get one last drink of that wine stuff. Damn it all, now there had **really** better have booze where I'm going._

"_It's not your time just yet, Jack. Please hurry and move, I can't keep this up for too long from this distance._"

Wonderful, I was getting drunken hallucinations when I was sober now. I blinked when that happened before looking around, and then something strange began to happen; my body began to glow with an odd silver light before I could feel the tentacles' grip loosening. The pokémon kept trying to wrap them around me but it was no use; something kept it from turning me into jelly.

However, the main issue was that I still couldn't breathe. After slipping out of the pokémon's reach I broke through to the surface, right before grabbing onto a rope that had been lowered for me; maybe Idiot was good for something after all. I saw everyone fussing around me before everything began to darken; I was going to sleep, I guessed that would be okay seeing as I could breathe again. Maybe psychic pokémon weren't so bad...

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"I hope he's okay, he was down there for a long time..."

"He's just fine, doesn't even have water in his lungs. Let him sleep Norman, he deserves it after scaring off the Sharpedo like that. Now let's get back on course," The older human spoke before I looked to Jack; even if he wasn't the best pokémon around, I had let him fall into the ocean. It was my fault that he was like this...

I looked at the grass pokémon laying there before shaking my head at myself; why couldn't I keep holding him up after all of that? Was I really so weak that I couldn't hold him up long enough to get him back onto the boat?

"Ralts..."

"Leave me alone."

Mudkip sighed before she sat down beside me. And then, she looked at me before she started to speak again, "It's not your fault, you did all you could. And, Jack's okay, isn't that something to be thankful for?"

"I shouldn't have let him fall..."

"You couldn't help it. So what?"

"Am I really that weak?"

"Stop thinking like that, Ralts! What you did was very good, and then Jack was firing those things at the Sharpedo so quickly!"

"I'm not strong at all... stop lying to me, you know it's true."

I got a shocked look from Mudkip this time before she closed her eyes and sighed again, "Fine. Go on and pity yourself. When you figure things out I'll be over trying to wake Jack up," It was after that when Mudkip turned her back to me, but it didn't matter; they had been able to do so much; they were stronger pokémon than I was. Me, I couldn't even support Jack long enough to get him away from the water, I wasn't able to save Alexa when she had gotten kidnapped...

What was the point of trying if I was just going to fail again?

My eyes fell to the ground below me as I simply sat there, right before my eyes closed. I wasn't as strong or as smart as Mudkip and Jack... well, maybe I was smarter than Jack, but I knew that he was stronger than me. I smirked a little at remembering the first time I met him; he had just had really strong Oran Berry Juice the previous day and was getting over it. Really... he seemed like he was an idiot but he had a good attitude to help make up for it.

As one thought led to another I eventually ended up falling asleep where I sat. However, I ended up having a dream while I was there; it was the night where my parents had been murdered again...

_Something was different. This wasn't the dream I was normally had; before me I saw the larger of the two dog pokémon over the bodies of my parents, but the smaller... they were looking at me with sorrow in their eyes. That was when a voice came, a horrifically familiar voice that caused my heart to sink straight down, "**Houndour, use Flamethrower on Ralts. Make sure that it is dead this time.**"_

_The flames were spiralling towards me as I saw two icy blue eyes staring at me, no warmth in them whatsoever as my demise flew closer..._

"No!"

I gasped when I realized that it was night time on the boat; it was a nightmare, but that voice... Alexa wouldn't... I sighed while looking out at the ocean, it looked like no one had moved me; they were probably in the big building I was sleeping against by this point for the night. I was considering joining them, but at the same time... I wanted to stay outside, just so that I could be by myself for a little while.

I wasn't really thinking about what had happened with Jack and the Sharpedo by this point anymore; I was more worried about the dream I had at the time. Two times, Alexa had replaced the human who had ordered those pokémon to kill my parents in that dream. The stars weren't really helping me but I kept looking to them anyway; maybe they had some sort of answer? ... yeah right, they didn't help me when I needed them so long ago so why would they help me now?

"_Surprisingly, the stars have a lot more power than you think they do, Ralts._"

This was familiar. I sighed while shaking my head as the projection of the star-shaped pokémon appeared in front of me; I had to wonder if she was a hallucination before she spoke to me again, "_I know you're worried about those dreams, Ralts... and, those weren't coincidental, I'm afraid to say. I was warning you through them._"

"_What?_" This time, I was going to speak to the star pokémon telepathically; I didn't want anyone else to overhear anything about my dreams, they were mine! But, she seemed to know a lot... maybe she could help me in some way, she seemed like she was trying to help before, "_Why do you say that?_"

"_I told you that things were going to happen to your trainer while you travel to where she is being kept. I have already seen some of what's happened so far; you might be forced into an unpleasant situation because of it._"

"_What are you saying?_" I was starting to feel very defensive now, but honestly could you blame me? This star pokémon was saying things about my trainer and now she was telling me through my dreams? That was just...! "_Why are you showing me those things?_"

"_Simple theories of mine that you deserve to know, Ralts. No, she did not kill your parents nor would she ever do so on her own free will,_" I was about to ask when the star pokémon answered my question for me, it was then that she continued, "_But, she has lost her free will, Ralts. She might be ordered to attack you and your friends because of it; you have to be ready to fight against her as well as other demons from your past because of it._"

I didn't know what to say. I just stared at the star pokémon before me before I shook my head furiously, "_No! She would never do that!_"

I stopped moving long enough to see the grim expression on the pokémon's face; she didn't like this any more than I did if it was true, "_I'm going to ask someone else for help. They have been through a lot recently and they have distaste for me, but... they might see that their help is needed as I cannot physically be here to help you. For now I have to leave again..._"

"_Wait! If you're leaving, how am I going to know whether or not they're going to help us?_"

The star pokémon looked at me (or at least I think she did, her eyes were always closed so I couldn't tell) before she smiled and shook her head, "_Trust me, you'll know. Their entrance will be obvious. But even if they don't come, you will still get whatever aid I can possibly give._"

That was it, she was gone again. I sighed before looking at the stars one last time, eyes closing to allow blackness to appear before me. Maybe things were going to be all right... I still didn't know. But, either way I'd be taking chances, so there was nothing left for me to do but to go inside and join the others for the night. Tomorrow was another day after all...

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Blah, crappy chapter ending. I was strapped for time, can you blame me? At least it's up; you get to see more things happening as well as some less-than-subtle foreshadowing, and you get another promise from me for an update coming soon. At least, I hope I can get one up soon... it all depends on what my partners in crime are up to. If you haven't figured out who those people are yet then that shameless advertising was for nothing. XD See you later!


	11. The Break In

Yay, another update! I can promise that you'll see familiar faces in this chapter (well duh, my own characters!), one you may recognize if you've read either **Anomaly** or **Tales of Flame** (respectively by **Dark Magician Girl Aeris** and **Buwaro**). I won't say where in either one because that would give _everything_ away, but I can't really say it's all that hard to figure out. You'll know who by the end of the chapter, but in case you don't I'll state who. But, because of a review suggestion, I'm putting up exactly who has what POV (Point of View) at the time and when it switches! Unfortunately, this chapter is written entirely in Jack's POV so you only get to see things from his view. But, more on everyone else will come again soon, so on with the chapter!

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**Jack's POV**

The sun broke out again as I let out a loud yawn, right before I registered that everyone else was still asleep. After the Sharpedo attacked we actually ended up having a day of rest; just smooth sailing straight towards what the humans said was 'Dewford Island.' Honestly... this was just driving me insane; I hadn't had any Oran Berries for days! At his point I was just hoping that island had some...

It was still kind of dark when we stopped in the town; shadows were coming from the cave at the north of the island after all, the sun hadn't quite risen over it yet. Quietly Idiot, Greg, Mudkip, Ralts and I got off of the boat before nodding towards the older human and Peecko; they were going to stay on the main part of the island while we snuck into the base and did our dirty work, but the boat would stay ready to sail so that we could get out of there very quickly if we had to.

"All right... it might be best if you go back into your pokéball for now, Mudkip. Return," I saw Greg suck Mudkip into the orb using that red laser thingy, right before Idiot crouched down in front of Ralts and I. What the heck was he doing?

"Ralts, Jack... it might be best if you two go into the pokéballs as well, we're trying to sneak into the base and with less people it'd be easier-"

"Alexa needs us, we're coming with you! You can't make us not come!" I stared at Ralts as he began protesting about going back into the pokéball; I myself shook my head, but in all honesty I just wanted to make sure that I didn't have to take orders from Idiot at any point in this rescue mission.

He sighed at both of us before shaking his head, "Looks like Ralts and Jack are staying out with us, Greg. Let's scout the area then..."

We became a silent group again while reaching the north of the island; the entrance to the base was blocked off by a metal door, it seemed like whoever wanted to get in had to use one of those password things Trunk had always used to log onto his... what was it? Oh yeah, computer.

While the humans looked at each other and began to whisper, I noticed that there was something in the rock to the left of us; there was a little vent thing, I felt some air coming out of it. Something else I noticed was that both Ralts and I were small enough to fit though it. There was only one conclusion I could draw from it; without the password thing, this was our only way in, "Oiy, Ralts! Come and take a look at this!"

Ralts turned to me before floating over, right before his head tilted to me and he asked, "What is this?"

"It's our way in. The humans won't be able to fit but we should do just fine..."

Ralts looked at me again before he began to protest, "But, what if we need help? We can't do this on..." He stopped there, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him. What the heck was he thinking about? He was calm one minute, psychotic the next, needing attention the next one... really, it was irritating. Almost as if he had multiple personalities, but I wasn't about to press the matter as the psychic pokémon spoke again, "Let's use this way in, then. This is the fastest way, and hopefully the humans can find somewhere else. But if they can't... we're on our own."

I really had to wonder about what went on in that pokémon's head, but that was a subject to speculate later; now, there were only two things that were important enough to stay on my mind, and those things were finding Alexa and finding myself some Oran Berries. More of that 'wine' stuff would be great too, mind you.

I had to poke at Greg's leg before we got their attention at that point. I pointed at the duct before Greg looked to Idiot and nodded, "I'll send Mudkip down with them. The rest are going to stay with me and you while we try to find another way in, okay Norman?"

"I guess... you guys be careful, okay? We might not be able to help you if you get into a mess," Idiot nodded towards both of us before Mudkip reappeared; then, the two humans went out of sight before we started explaining things to Mudkip (or rather, Ralts did; I was too busy picking something out of my teeth).

"I'm going to levitate us down this hole, Mudkip. Otherwise we'll probably make too much noise and end up exposing ourselves to those humans..."

Mudkip nodded in agreement before Ralts began to work at getting the metal cover off of the vent; while he worked away at this Mudkip came over to me and whispered a question into my ear, "Jack... something seems different about him."

"I know, but honestly I'd rather not ask right now," I shrugged and shook my head before a satisfying clang was heard; Ralts had successfully removed the vent's cover before he nodded to us, "Time to go down a hole into the mine field, then..."

"What's a mine field?"

Right, Ralts wasn't savvy in the human language by then. I sighed and simply responded, "I'll explain when we're not risking our necks to save Alexa, all right? Let's work with what's in front of us first."

"Right," Ralts nodded to me before I noticed a purple bubble forming around Mudkip, Ralts and I; next thing I knew we were being lowered into the open vent rather slowly. It took a couple of minutes before I could see another vent below us; the bubble disappeared the moment we were down before I looked at it. Ralts pretty quiet before he began to work at removing this one too, "I don't hear anything moving around..."

"The humans would have security cameras, they'll know we're in here as soon as we get down there," Mudkip pointed this out in a whisper before Ralts and I both stared at her. I had heard of those things but didn't realize that humans actually used them to spy on people... but, then, it'd be too easy if these humans didn't have anything like that. That was something I kept to myself with an inward sigh as Mudkip spoke again, "We have to move fast; if we find your trainer we're probably going to have to fight our way out though..."

"And here I was hoping for another day off," It seemed that they both got the sarcasm because they didn't say anything afterward. Just as Ralts finished opening the vent though, something caught my eye; a way-too-familiar Houndour had just appeared below, "Ah... I have some business to take care of; you might have to go ahead without me-"

"Don't you dare," I almost shivered at the dangerous tone Ralts had used, right before mentally coming to the conclusion that the pokémon in front of me was definitely psychotic and I was suspicious of him having more than one personality, "We're here to rescue Alexa and then get out. I will blow you to bits if you blotch it up, it's your fault that she got kidnapped in the first place!"

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to say anything in response; Ralts was shoved into me by Mudkip while she fought off the sudden burst of flame that had come up into the duct. Apparently we weren't as quiet as we thought we were. It was something that came to bite us before I heard the damn mutt barking; our cover was blown then and there.

"All right, let's get moving!" Mudkip shouted back to us once the stream of fire was halted, right before she jumped out of the vent. I followed her and landed gracefully on the ground as Ralts floated down behind me; I might not fight often but something in me was preparing me for a scrap, especially with the bloody Houndour. Revenge probably didn't taste as good as Oran Berry 'Wine' but it would still be sweet.

I saw the mutt staring at me for a split second before he shook his head, "You had to come for her... I'm sorry for-"

"We'll see just how sorry you are," Damn, was Ralts ever being creepy. I had the feeling that I was missing something though as Ralts began to furiously try to move the Houndour; unfortunately, his effort was wasted, for some reason he couldn't move it at all. The mutt blinked at this before Ralts found a working alternative; even if this was a human base, the ground was still littered with rather large rocks, and because they were loose Ralts was able to chuck them at the mutt with his psychic powers.

After getting hit by the first few rocks and yelping the mutt dodged the rocks before beginning to run away; that struck me as odd, why wasn't he staying and fighting against us? Unfortunately, the answer to said oddity was coming up; the woman who owned the mutt was coming forward with the other one, followed by a girl dressed entirely in black with that funny red human letter on the front of her shirt. She seemed familiar but with her hat so low on her head I couldn't tell why.

"So, we have mini intruders here? This won't do..." The first woman was shaking her head before she made way for the second one, "But, I recognize you, lizard. You're that Treecko my Houndour trounced at Petalburg Gym," _No need to tell me that,_ "And I'm guessing you and your friends are looking for your trainer, right? I hate to be the one to tell you," _Yeah right,_ I thought venomously before the woman smirked at us, "But to you, she's already dead."

I felt a strange numbness come over me when the woman had said those words, dimly looking towards Mudkip and Ralts, both seeming as shocked as I felt. Dead? No way, the star thing wouldn't have sent us here if she was dead! Why I cared didn't matter at that point, what mattered was what that woman said...

There was no way that Alexa was dead. She was too strong to let those bastards do her in.

"Like hell she's dead! You humans wouldn't be able to do a thing to her!" It seemed like Ralts realized how ridiculous his words sounded when the Houndoom beside the Houndour laughed at us; again, the Houndour's reaction was surprising to me as it was just looking away and looking more guilty by the second, but I didn't care at the time, "You're lying!"

"She isn't actually dead you moron," I blinked as the Houndoom stopped laughing long enough to say that, and then she stopped again to smirk at me, "What Master means is that your precious trainer is with Team Rocket now. She'd kill you without a second thought if we ordered her to."

Ralts was in too much shock to be prepared for what happened next; the Houndoom had tackled him to the ground, causing both Mudkip and I to move. But, just then, the terrifying words that would cause Mudkip and me to stop in midair (quite literally) rang through the corridor, "Dustox, use confusion and stop them."

I couldn't believe it. As Mudkip and I were suspended in midair my full attention was on the grunt behind the woman; said grunt was finally taking off her hat. Bright green hair that had been tucked away in the hat tumbled down as I could finally identify the grunt; Alexa had ordered that Dustox to do that. She really was with Team Rocket...

There was some metal thing around each of her ears though. I couldn't tell what it was, but whatever it was it couldn't be good at all. What was really scary was her eyes though... Her face, her eyes, they held no signs of life. Even her voice was lifeless as she spoke to the woman again (and to me this was actually scary, don't you laugh!), "Kujaku, did I do well?"

"You did superb work, kid," The woman smirked at us before giving a nod, "Now, do the honours. Houndour, listen to the girl's command; Houndoom, hold fire until the girl gives her command."

Both of the mutts nodded (although the Houndour seemed to do so regretfully, just what the hell was wrong with that pokémon?) in response to the woman's words, right before Alexa turned her cold eyes onto me. I still couldn't believe it as I heard what I was almost positive were fatal words.

"Houndour, use flamethrower and eliminate the Treecko."

I winced, feeling the heat coming closer as I braced myself... but, the blow never came. _What the..._

"_Time to crash this party,_" There was another psychic pokémon around here? It wasn't the star-shaped hallucination or Ralts that much I could tell; this one's voice was different. I blinked and saw this pink cat thing in front of me; Mudkip was seeing it too so either we were both insane or this thing was most definitely real.

"You're the help the star pokémon called for?" I could hear Ralts squeaking as the steam began to clear; it was impossible to see the humans before the steam started to rise up; apparently this cat thing had used water to stop the stream of flame from hitting me.

"_Were you expecting the Easter Bunny?_"

After all of this was done and over with I'd have to ask him about what the hell an Easter Bunny was.

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There you have it, chapter 11! By the way, if you couldn't already tell the pink cat thing is Mew. That's right; Mew's helping out if you haven't already guessed. And, if you haven't already, go read **Tales of Flame** and **Anomaly** already! They are great, and you get to see the chaos that goes on when Mew isn't around. Also, keep tuned into this fic so that you get to see how everything turns out! And, trust me, not _EVERYTHING_ is predictable! It's my job (as well as **Buwaro**'s and **Dark Magician Girl Aeris**') to keep everything as weird as possible! Until the next chapter, farewell all of you faithful readers!


	12. Bittersweet Battle

Hi, it's me bringing you an additional chapter for **Hoenn Chronicles** again! Thank you for reading the story so far, your reviews have been a contributing factor for improving the over-all quality of the story (and hey, everyone also likes to hear praise once in a while). And, I can only say this for now; not everything that you'd like to happen is going to happen. If you don't know what that means, read the chapter to find out. And, without further adieu, on with the chapter!

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**Jack's POV**

Okay, I was still frozen in midair because of Dustox's confusion attack. Mudkip was to the left of me and Ralts was being pinned by a fire-breathing canine. Just when I was about to get torched, this pink cat thing appears in front of us and saves my life.

This was probably stranger than any drunken experience I would ever get. And it would only get weirder from there.

"Just what are you anyway?" Eh, I knew I should have been thanking the pink cat thing instead of asking it, but honestly I had to wonder. And, for this one I wasn't about to wait until it was all over, I had enough questions to ask at the end.

"_The pink cat thing that saved your life just now,_" That was the sarcastic response I got from it before it transformed; I blinked to see a blue... cat thing? It didn't look the same though; it had fins and was a lot larger now... Regardless, he was a pokémon, and that was all I really knew at the time. Said pokémon finally stopped using telepathy and instead spoke like the rest of us did at the time, "These humans can't see me like I was though; if anyone asks my name is Crescent."

"Right, Crescent... please get us down from here?" Mudkip finally spoke to the cat thing as the steam cleared; the human woman seemed furious while Alexa stared blankly, apparently cat thing had ruined the woman's day at least. Alexa was too much of a robot to seem to care, that was something that made my stomach flip unpleasantly.

However, my feet touching the ground surprised me enough to make me stumble a little before I stared at the new form of the cat thing; that was when I heard the woman controlling Alexa and the two fire mutts hissing angrily, "How the hell did a Vaporeon get in here? Houndoom, chase it out!"

So the pink cat thing transformed into a pokémon called Vaporeon. Why, that was still a mystery to me but was also yet another thing that had to be left for later; the large mutt was chasing after said pokémon while he jumped into the air, hitting it in the back with a jet of water.

When the disguised pokémon landed he asked me a question telepathically; no one else reacted to it so I assumed I was the only one who could hear the message, "_So tell me where's the girl you're trying to get out of the base?_"

"Dustox, use Silver Wind."

"Bloody... right there!" I just barely ducked in time to dodge the attack given from that disgusting flying bug, which gave me reason to dislike any bug pokémon that came my way right then and there. That was way too close for comfort. Ralts had finally gotten back onto his feet at this point before staring at me, then looking towards the pink cat in disguise, then to me again.

"Look at the metal thing on your trainer's head," The 'Vaporeon' caught my attention (as well as Mudkip's and Ralts' apparently) when he said that, narrowing his eyes before he nodded to the three of us, "It's a safe bet that the thing is what's control-GAH!"

I was really beginning to hate those fire mutts; the larger one had gotten back up and tackled the pseudo pokémon to the ground while Houndour simply stared back at the woman. It was as if he was waiting for an order, but at the same time...

"Heads up!"

I cried out when the Houndoom was bowled right into me, shaking it off and pushing its unconscious body off with quite a bit of effort before seeing Crescent staring at the Houndour. Just what the hell was he thinking?

"I'm getting that thing off of Alexa's head!"

"Wait, don't-!"

Crescent was trying to stop Ralts but all too late; the smaller psychic had already tried to remove the device from the girl's head. I began to hear this horrid screeching, but when I covered my ears I saw what Ralts' attempt was doing to Alexa; her body fell to the ground while her deadened eyes actually widened; all I saw was pain, silent screams and yet still so lifeless...

"You might want to stop that or you'll kill your precious trainer."

I glared at the woman when she said that as Ralts immediately stopped trying to move it; those bastards had thought of everything now hadn't they? It was a few seconds before Alexa got back to her feet though; apparently Ralts hadn't moved it enough to actually cause her serious harm, and was that ever a relief. But, at the same time, I was scared for my life again as she stared at us before returning Dustox to the pokéball she had in her hand.

"You see… Team Rocket is smarter than to just let someone take it off so easily; that thing can only be disarmed through our programs, and don't even try to read my mind; I don't know how," That caused Crescent to scowl, even though the woman's words were directed at Ralts. Apparently she hadn't clued into the fact that the 'Vaporeon' wasn't really what it seemed, something that seemed to be a damn useful defence at the time.

"This isn't good... no wonder Jirachi wanted me down here," A sigh left Crescent before I blinked at him; and then, I had to wonder... _Where the hell did Mudkip get off to?_

I got a far more than satisfying answer; the woman cried out when Mudkip tackled her from behind, right before the human woman got Mudkip off and chucked her at Ralts, "I was so close!"

Ralts ended up slowing her down with a psychic blast before Crescent zoomed right by the woman; where the heck was he going? At the end of the hall he stopped and yelled down at us, "Follow me! I'm going to find the goddamn instructions for that thing so I can blow it up!"

That sounded remotely like something fun. I smirked before nodding and beginning to run after Crescent; Mudkip and Ralts were following me towards him as well. I could tell because of Mudkip's footsteps and the doubt that Ralts would want to get left behind.

However, I heard Houndour's barking behind us, something that made our party of four whirl around and stare in surprise, "I'll lead you to the computer! Please, let me atone...!"

Son of a bitch, he was going to follow us. I glared back at Houndour and took an offensive position towards the fire-breathing mutt; there was no way I'd trust him after he tried torching me to death!

Unfortunately enough for me, Crescent had other plans for him.

"Back down Treecko; he means it, he wants to help us and to get out of Team Rocket's hands. I say let him as long as he's not a useless lump."

I stared at Crescent while the Houndour ran right by me, Mudkip and Ralts following suit while I continued to do nothing but stare. Just what the hell was he thinking? That pokémon had tried to kill me only a few minutes before and Crescent was letting him come so easily? _Just whose side are you on?_

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**Houndour's POV**

There was something familiar about that Ralts, but at the moment I paid no mind. The Vaporeon, their leader... When he looked into my eyes, it was almost as if he could see right through my face and into what was in my heart... something wasn't normal about it. But for the moment that wasn't important.

I was getting a chance to escape from Team Rocket and to do something about what I had already done. He knew that I would spend the rest of my life trying to make up for my errors if I had to, and because of that he was letting me help. The Treecko still didn't trust me, that much I could tell right off the bat. The Mudkip and the Ralts, those two didn't seem sure about me. The Ralts especially... but, it seemed like they trusted the Vaporeon enough to trust his judgement.

I took one last look backward; Master was livid beyond belief... Sister was still on the ground, still unconscious, but she would also be furious to find out that I had turned against her whenever she would wake up. And that girl...

I had done too much already to not try and free her mind.

"What the heck are you waiting for, you stupid Treecko? Jeez, you really are related to Fervo..." I blinked as the Vaporeon spoke before I ran up to him, the Treecko following me and catching up to the group at long last, "Ah, forgot to mention, there's a talk you and I might have to have later."

"Like I really give a Rattata's ass right now. And, my name is Jack for future reference," The Treecko rolled his eyes before my attention turned elsewhere; Master had pulled out the pokéball she used to catch me and my sister such a long time ago. She was going to return me to it, or at least I thought she was...

Until the pokéball was lifted from her hand and thrown into the wall, the tiny fragments of what my prison was scattering all over the ground.

Master, or at least the human who was formerly my master, widened her eyes before looking towards the Ralts; said Ralts was confused before shaking his head and squeaking wildly, "It wasn't me! I didn't do that, honest!"

"She can't understand you Ralts. Besides... I did that," I whirled around to the Vaporeon while staring, "I'll explain later, that among the other things you guys'll need to know if we don't get slaughtered. Now, we run like hell to whatever seems like the machine controlling that kid!"

Master scowled before returning Sister to her pokéball; I knew we wouldn't have much time so it was definitely time to run, and it seemed like everyone else was sharing the same thought; I led the path out the door with the Vaporeon close behind me. The Mudkip, Ralts and Treecko were doing well in keeping up, I had to admit that much. But, they could get their congratulations later; right now was the time for action.

"In here!" I shouted to the pokémon behind me as I darted into the computer room; truth be told, I was surprised that it wasn't locked down as the humans said. The Vaporeon jumped up to the consol before looking at one of the screens, "You can read Human?"

"There're a lot of things I can do, and being a smart ass is one of them," I blinked at the comment while looking back; it looked like a Linoone, a Sableye, a Swellow and a Vigoroth had joined the fray, not to mention two more humans who the three pokémon with the Vaporeon and I seemed to consider friends. That was probably best, that would mean the Vaporeon would have more time to look at the data on the screen.

"Damn it..." Apparently it wasn't of much help, I looked back to the Vaporeon before he answered my bad feeling, "They're controlling her from another base. And I have no idea where it is, it doesn't say on any of these damn screens."

"What do we do then?" I asked as the pokémon before me jumped down from the desk, right before the pokémon chuckled at me.

"We blow this place sky high, that's what. Finally, we're getting to the fun reason for coming here..."

Honestly, I had no idea what he meant. What shoved newer, more curious thoughts out of my head was the fact that Vaporeon had jumped up and pressed a big red button near the computers. Then, a siren and a human woman's voice came over the intercom, "**Self-destruct sequence activated. All personnel please evacuate the area. Base destruction will begin in five minutes.**"

All of the fighting outside of the door stopped when the alarm began to sound. Then, I could hear the Treecko protesting while others began to run, right before the Vaporeon slipped out of the room. I followed him to see everyone who had been fighting against Team Rocket then, right before looking towards the humans. Quickly one of them returned the Mudkip to her pokéball (as well as the Sableye and Swellow, the Linoone and Vigoroth were returned to their pokéballs by the other human) before the other one shouted, "We've got to get out of here now! Let's grab Alexa when she's outside of the base!"

That was when we all began to run for our lives; I was leading the pack once again because I knew the fastest way out. And, as luck would have it, it wasn't blocked. The larger (and most likely older) human opened the door for us so that we could run out of the base and towards the human town that was near the headquarters. And then...

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**Jack's POV**

That explosion was a sight to see with the midday sun being blackened by smoke and flame. But, to our dismay, I saw that vile woman and Alexa escaping on a different boat. That ticked me off; it meant that all of that work was for nothing...

Crescent seemed to see things differently though, that much being obvious as he lied down on the beach sand ahead of us, "Now I'm kinda glad I came down here. Blowing up that base was more satisfying then you'll ever know..."

"But we didn't save Alexa," Ralts looked at Crescent (from what I could tell anyway, damn veil), and he sounded mad... this was probably the psychotic side coming out, or maybe this wasn't psychotic but easily angered? I didn't know. I might never have found out, either. But, considering that we just risked our hides getting blown to bits I didn't care.

"Yeah..." A sigh left Crescent before he looked at us, and then to the Houndour. I still didn't trust that little git but until I had a reason not to (other than him trying to blow me to bits, I thought that was a perfectly good reason but at this point it wasn't good enough for the bloody pink cat thing) I had to live with him being there... "Jack, Ralts, Houndour. I need to talk to you three in private."

I blinked before shrugging, and just when the humans weren't looking we slipped off to hide in a nearby cave; apparently those humans in black hadn't dug into that part of the island so it was a natural hide-away, "So, what if Idiot and Greg come looking for us then?"

Crescent shook his head before answering, "They still think you're there, I'm using power to leave a projection of us with me slinking away into the water. Now pay attention or I'll have to choke you down with Oran Berries."

"That's a good way to go."

I smirked and Crescent laughed while Houndour and Ralts both stared at us; that was, Crescent was laughing before he closed his eyes and began to glow. And then, before I knew it, he was the pink cat thing again.

"Now, in all seriousness... You first, Jack," I blinked before shrugging and sitting down to listen; had nothing better to do at the moment anyway, "I mentioned how you were definitely related to Fervo. That's because Jirachi already knew this too and she told me; you have a cousin that's living with someone I'm looking after, apparently he's the only one who cared that you were gone after you were caught."

"Well damn, he's still alive then?" It looked like Crescent was waiting for me to do something, so who was I to deny him? I shrugged and fell back, "I'll have to look into seeing him them, I was wondering how he was doing."

"... now I have to wonder if you're related, he almost got violent when he found out you still existed," Crescent smirked at me before going back, "And now, to explain-"

"Who's Jirachi?"

I sat up and blinked at Ralts as he asked that question, truth be told I hadn't thought of that until he asked. And then, Crescent began to answer, "Jirachi's the little shit who asked me to come here. Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that I happen to hate Team Rocket more than I hate Miss Happy Happy Joy Joy I wouldn't have come."

Something was telling me it wasn't a wise choice to ask. So, instead, I entertained myself by asking another question, "So what does that make you, a sarcastic know-it-all?"

Houndour seemed shocked that I had said that but, quoting myself from earlier, I didn't give a Rattata's ass. But, Crescent laughed when I had said that before nodding, "You could say that. My real name is Mew, even though I told you it was Crescent. Crescent is an alias that I use so that Team Rocket can't track me down again."

"Okay..."

"Look... before you start, I'm sorry that your trainer's with Team Rocket. Now that I've seen what Jirachi was talking about for myself... well, I'm having second thoughts on my vow against ever helping her again," A sigh left the pink cat thing (now known as Mew) before he shook his head at us, "But, I have to go some where else to make sure the pokémon I'm supposed to be taking care of aren't killing each other. I know a certain someone there who would never forgive me if I didn't try to help that kid though, and honestly too much of them can be tiring."

Translation, he would be back. I only nodded before the pokémon disappeared in an orb of pink light, leaving the bloody Houndour, Ralts and I alone in the cave to think about what he was saying.

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Chapter's end! All right, it's up, I'm sorry... it might not be as good as previous chapters, and I know the ending is a bit rushed. But, I've been bothered for this update for a while, so might as well get it up ASAP right? Not to mention... if you don't know where Mew is going, again all of my shameless advertising was for nothing. That said, good bye for now and see you all next chapter! Please review with ways on how I can improve the story as well, it helps big-time!


	13. Disaster in Bloom

Yo, it's me again! I'm bringing you yet another chapter for my pride and joy of a fan fiction, **Hoenn Chronicles**. Seriously, this has probably been the most frequently updated fan fiction I have ever written, not to mention the most inspired at points. I'm almost never stuck for an idea... And, you get to see more examples of that this chapter! And, guess what, we get to see ANOTHER character... okay, two characters to be honest! I will say this now; they both belong to **Dark Magician Girl Aeris**. They have appeared in **Anomaly** (another pokémon fan fiction which happens to be related to this one) and I have been given full permission to use them in my own story. Their names are Reiko and Kazu. If you haven't read **Anomaly** yet, you're missing out on a lot about what these two did in the past and such. Not to mention that if you don't read **Tales of Flame** (authored by **Buwaro**), then parts of **Anomaly** won't make sense either. So, read them both if you haven't already, thank you so much for reading **Hoenn Chronicles** so far, and without further delay the chapter shall begin!

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**Kazu's POV**

"I still can't believe you convinced me to go through with this transfer. You knew I didn't want to go back," I sighed as I sat with my long-time friend down in the cargo hold; we both knew that she was on Team Rocket's shit list by this point because she was the only one they definitely knew helped the second clone escape. So, what does she come and do? Blackmails me into helping her escape to the Hoenn region where Team Rocket's reach was weakest. And, since I was still trusted and Cheryl and Yota were busy with other things, I was the one nominated to stow her over there while requesting for a transfer. And, unfortunately, I was accepted right away to work on a goddamn mind control device they were testing over there.

"Too bad, Kazu. If you don't help me then you'll get busted too, remember?" How could I forget, that was the one thing that was sure to keep my mouth shut and the woman with bubblegum-pink hair in front of me knew it. I sighed again before shaking my head and looking blearily at her; ever since we left the port in Olivine City, keeping Reiko's presence on the boat under wraps had been nothing short of nerve-wracking. She was too adventurous to be a stow-away, and then I always had to bring her food because she couldn't explore the deck without someone else from Team Rocket spotting her. And then, "Besides, you never told me why you hated the Hoenn Region so much. Either spill the beans or listen to me nagging you for the four hours left on this boat ride."

"You know, I'm starting to doubt that Team Rocket robbed you of your childhood. It seems like you never really grew up."

What I got in return was Reiko sticking her tongue out at me before playfully punching me in the arm. Then she fell back onto the make-shift bed made of the blankets used to cover various crates in storage before she started talking to me again, "Fine, I won't ask. We can just lay low in some town away from your little hell hole for a while. Until Team Rocket stops trying to kill me, y'know?"

"You'd get too bored with that," We both smirked at that before I ended up shaking my head, "Fine, let's stay away from Littleroot Town then. I'd say Rustboro City too but that's where I'm supposed to be stationed."

"The base is out there?"

"There's more than one. There's another one on Dewford Island but that's mainly for communications with the grunts and executives in Hoenn; apparently there's a lot of rare pokémon in the caves near there as well."

"Sounds like something the higher ups would do," Reiko sighed this time while boredly looking around the storage room, "But this mind control project is in Rustboro City, huh? So... how're you gonna sabotage it?"

"I won't know until we get there," I shrugged before looking back to Reiko; honestly, I hadn't even seen the plans nor the person they were testing this on. But, the inventors of this thing _wouldn't_ be stupid enough to not have a way to deactivate it in case of emergency. And, since I was working on making improvements, I'd be one of the first on our side to know how to turn it off. No amount of money or recognition would be worth making a thing that made people and pokémon lose their free will, after all, "In the mean time, we've got to get you a grunt's uniform so you can get off of the ship without everyone on your ass."

"I always hated those things. They look too gloomy and I'm not a real fan of black."

"And you choose now to be picky about the uniform?"

"You're acting as if my hating the uniform is a bad thing."

"I never said that and you know it. But, hate it or not if you want to get off of the ship without getting caught you have to wear it."

"I know... can I at least wear the guys' uniform? Skirts were never really my thing."

I sighed and shook my head while smiling weakly, this was almost like dealing with a teenage girl. But, considering that she was nabbed when she was a teenager, it kind of made sense. There were also things I wasn't exactly proud of, like joining Team Rocket for the purposes of money and fame... everyone else on our side either had someone to take care of and desperately needed the money or was nabbed as a kid. Admittedly I felt kind of sorry for Reiko... but, then again, she'd be free to live her own life once the boat ride was over.

"I think there's a box of uniforms around here," I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw Reiko making her way over to the only cardboard box in the area; that was more than likely the box we wanted, Reiko proving me right once she opened it, "There we go... looks like this one will fit like a glove. No peeking, Kazu; just because you're helping me out doesn't mean you get a free show!"

I laughed and turned my back to her as the girl changed; then, when she said she was done I inspected her; the uniform did fit, it hid her chest well enough so that she could pass as male. However, there was one thing that was a dead give-away.

"You have to wear the hat too, you know."

"You're no fun..." Reiko smirked at me before lifting up one of the hats in the box, fitting it onto her head low enough so that her hair was pretty close to invisible; I almost pissed myself laughing when she tried to imitate a male voice, "Well, how do I look?"

"As long as you don't talk to anyone you'll be fine," I shook my head while wiping away a tear of laughter, and thankfully Reiko seemed to think her 'male' voice was funny as well, "Now come on. You can probably get away with being on deck for the rest of the trip like that."

"Sure thing. First place I'm headed to is the kitchen, I'm starving..."

I was thankful that nothing from the storage room could be heard up on deck then as we replaced the box (now missing one uniform), then throwing around Reiko's former bed so that the blankets covered the crates once more. However, what caught both my and Reiko's attention was the group of grunts crowded around a radio box; when I listened in, some truly shocking news was caught by both Reiko and me.

"... I repeat, Dewford base has been infiltrated and destroyed. Rustboro base will have increased security measures because of this break-in. All members of Team Rocket will be required to show their ID as a result, along with only the pokémon they have registered in the database; all unregistered pokémon must be caged immediately to avoid further implications in the future. I, Kujaku, along with the test subject, will meet you all at the port north of Rustboro City to check your identification and pokémon. Kujaku out."

"It looks like there are a few pokémon who don't like us out there," Reiko murmured that under her breath before she turned to me once more; she was probably thinking the same thing that I was. ID could only mean trouble, meaning there was only one alternate route of sneaking her out...

"Let's go," We nodded to each other before slipping (hopefully unnoticed) into the storage room again. Then, I saw an empty crate in the corner before looking at Reiko. She stared at me before whipping off the hat and throwing it at me, "H-hey! You know we have to!"

"Doesn't mean I have to like it! And you're the only one around I can take it out on without getting busted," I sighed while she glared at me, right before she gingerly climbed into the wooden box. I sighed before tossing an apple I had in my pocket in there with her, the pink-haired woman taking it gratefully before looking up at me, "What, nothing else?"

"Everything else would get really soggy in there with you if you waited. I'll take you out for dinner when this is all over if we get you out alive, all right?" I sighed, that was probably going to burn a hole in my wallet. I saw that the crate had a 'this side up' marking on it, and after making sure that it was where Reiko's head was I finally closed the crate. I just wanted this damn boat ride to end already...

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**Reiko's POV**

I hated this already. I was stuck in a damned uncomfortable wooden box while wearing the black uniform. Now I kind of wished that I had kept that hat though, it would have made a good pillow. Thoughts like that were consuming me as I chewed on the piece of apple in my mouth; Kazu had been kind enough to make a few air holes to make sure I could breathe comfortably for the time left, but I still couldn't stand the smell of the now rotting apple core. It was getting really stuffy in there...

I think that at some point I actually fell asleep. However, I jolted awake when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs; they were going to start moving stuff now. And, as luck would have it, my crate was taken first. I couldn't hear what the people carrying me were talking about, but my stomach lurched when I saw the end of a crow bar coming into the top of the box; crap, they were going to open it. That meant I would have to make a run for it. Which would be hard to do, considering how many grunts there were... but, I'd manage somehow, wouldn't I?

The moment the top came off I jumped out of the crate, punching both of the grunts that had opened it. And then, there was only one thing left to do; run like hell.

I almost made it out of the docking area too, but unfortunately there was something that came into my face that stopped me in my tracks; this little kid in the female grunt's uniform stepped in front of me and cocked a gun that was aimed at my head, "Oh... shit."

Two other grunts grabbed me and started to march me back towards the woman checking everyone's ID while the kid followed us. She was probably still pointing the gun at my head, but that wasn't what was scary about her; what was frightening was that she had this blank look in her eyes, as if her head was empty of all thought...

"Ah... good work, kid. You've apprehended the fugitive," I stuck my tongue out at the woman while she smirked at me, but then I saw Kazu's widened eyes; unfortunately, the woman seemed to catch that with a smirk, "Don't move, Kazu. I know you're behind it as well. We only have proof of Reiko's involvement but I'm sure we can dig up something on you..."

I saw Kazu wincing before I saw the kid step forward, this time aiming the gun at Kazu; there was a metal thing on her head, something that made my stomach flip. Was this... they were testing things on a little kid? She was hardly older than the little girl used for the second clone!

"How do you like her, Kazu? She is the current test subject; what you're needed to do is monitor her brain to make sure no resistance shows. You see... this device isn't one hundred percent efficient."

I blinked while the woman (I guessed that she was Kujaku by then, since she said she was checking all of the IDs on the radio) beckoned for the kid to come forward. Then, she indicated the arm that was still holding the gun pointed towards Kazu's head; it was trembling, something that made me feel even more sickened as Kujaku spoke again, "She's showing resistance, Kazu. We need you to fix that."

"You honestly expect me to do this to a human girl? She's just a kid!"

Finally, Kazu was showing some backbone. I smiled weakly to him but ended up glaring at Kujaku again as she laughed coldly; just what the hell was that bitch thinking? "Look, it's either this kid's life... or your dear friend Reiko's."

I could feel my eyes widening as the gun was pointed at me again, the two other grunts on either side of me still holding me so that, no matter how I struggled, I couldn't run or even hope to dodge the bullet if she shot at me. I could see Kazu thinking this over, his eyes going down... he wasn't seriously going to keep experimenting on this kid, was he?

"Kazu you idiot! Don't you listen to them! They were going to kill me anyway! Don't let them take over that kid's mind!" Frantically I started shouting at him, there was just no way! All of that work freeing the second clone was because we believed Team Rocket was going too far, but Kazu was seriously thinking this over? "Forget about me, get that kid out of here!"

"... Let her go."

"What's that, Kazu?" Kujaku was smirking at the defeated form of my friend... "I can't hear you."

"Let her go. If I agree to help you, you have to stop chasing after Reiko and leave her be," I couldn't help but stare at Kazu as he lifted his head again; he was making probably one of the toughest choices of his life, between two lives... Why did the idiot choose me over that poor kid? Team Rocket already robbed me of my childhood, he was seriously going to let them do that to someone else?

Kujaku laughed before nodding to the kid, said kid then lowering her arm and dropping the gun before Kujaku spoke to Kazu again, "Fine. But, we're not letting Reiko go until you finish perfecting that device... just to avoid any sabotage or anything else like that. You two, make sure she's locked away so that we can keep a proper eye on her."

"_NO_! Kazu you bastard, I'll kill you! I swear to god I'll kill you!" There were no words to describe exactly how pissed off I was; I could hear Kujaku's cruel laughter echoing in my ears as I was taken into the cave-base before being thrown into a cell, said cell being locked immediately as I got to my feet and tried to claw at the two guards; they merely stared at me before walking away, and after furiously trying to rip away the metal bars I fell to my knees. Tears were welling up in my eyes as I just screamed furiously... How could he have betrayed our cause like that? Just when I was starting to think that he was an all right guy...

_Why Kazu...? Why..._

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End chapter! All right, we've got insight into these two characters. Just so you know, this is one day after the crap that's happened on Dewford Island. Translation, it's going to be a short time before these two see any sign of any of the pokémon. Thank you for reading, **Hoenn Chronicles** has finally reached **_50 Reviews_**! I love your support and I hope to see more input from you guys in the future! Until then, farewell!


	14. Seeing Double

Hey again everyone! I'm sorry it took me so long to update, a lot has been keeping me busy (and, of course, I had no idea how I would end this chapter). However, I still have never gotten this far into a fanfic without being stuck for ideas at some point, so this is the first hump I have to cross. I have to say that this arc of the story is lasting quite a while, but the ride isn't over yet. If you want to see what I mean, then stop reading this paragraph and go on with the chapter!

One note though; I have never been drunk nor will I ever (purposely) get drunk. Therefore, I am only guessing what drunkenness would be like for each of the following pokémon in the chapter. Have fun reading it anyway as it has a huge dose of silly stolen from one of my partners. ;)

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**Jack's POV**

I groaned as we finally reached the dock where we had started four days ago; I probably would have gone loony if I had stayed on that boat for five seconds more. If you had to stay on board with a bloody Houndour that tried to torch you to death three times before joining your side (I still didn't trust the damn mutt), a psychotic Ralts who was impossible to speak to without fear of getting thrown overboard, and a Mudkip who acted like my mother, you'd go loony too.

"Greg... we have to stop in Petalburg City before we can go to Rustboro to keep searching," I blinked as Idiot started talking to Greg again, but almost immediately I was distracted; there was an Oran Berry tree nearby. _Jackpot!_

I immediately climbed up the tree and sat comfortably on one of the branches before picking off one of the berries. Then, with as big of a bite as I could, I tore through the flesh of the berry and tasted the juices inside. And was that berry ever worth picking off! This one was strong, well-aged too... almost as strong as that wine stuff I had those long days ago. It looked like Ralts, the mutt and Mudkip were curious about what I was doing... hah. I picked off three more berries and threw them down, "There's enough for everyone! Dig in, these ones are really good!"

I hiccoughed then before falling backwards out of the tree. When Ralts slowed me down with his psychic powers I chuckled and flipped around in the air while he was slowing me down, "Hey, you're more fun than I pegged you for, Ralts! Maybe you should do this more often!"

"He's drunk again..." Mudkip groaned while the fire pokémon just stared at me, Ralts letting me drop to the ground with a dull thud. That had hurt, but I didn't care as I laughed, Mudkip staring at me before sniffing at the berry in front of her, "What's so great about these berries anyway?"

"Try them and find out!" I shouted out to them rather loudly as I looked around; the humans weren't there anymore, they were going to miss out on all the fun! However, I found myself in the air again before I looked at a red-faced Ralts; in front of him was the empty core of the Oran Berry I had thrown at him, "See? Ralts has the idea right!"

"You're an idiot who can fly!" Ralts was giggling as he made me soar through the air, something that made me grin as I was dropped over the water. I ended up diving in and coming out before spitting water at the damn mutt, something that made him yelp while Ralts kept giggling, "Great aim!"

"10 points for me!" I laughed while Houndour just stared at me, right before sniffing at his own berry. Hah, the bloody mutt was going to try it? I smirked in satisfaction as he bit into it, shuddering before I heard him swallow, "Yeah! Dig in, Mudkip! You're being a wet blanket, whatever that is!"

Houndour seemed to be too interested in his own tail to take a swim and instead began chasing it. I thought it was funny, so can you really blame me for laughing at him? However, I was pushed under water then as Ralts landed on my head; I wouldn't let him get away with that! I laughed and pulled him under before swimming up, the both of us laughing at each other as we just floated there. I yelped when Mudkip jumped into the water, right before we all laughed; this was fun, just doing stupid things like this while having plenty of Oran Berries close by! What could be better?

And, just as I thought that, Houndour stopped running around in favour of puking. That pokémon was such a weak-stomached prat... he couldn't even handle one berry? "I... I don't like these berries anymore..." And then he fell over onto his side before falling asleep soundly.

"Weakling! Can't even handle one berry!" I laughed again while floating on my back and stared up at the sky. It was getting dark... we'd be drunk at night soon. However, I was floating up in the air again while I looked down at Ralts, who was giggling at me again, "I'll give you something to giggle about, I'll tell you what..."

I swam through air before I planted my lips against Ralts', earning a gaping stare from Mudkip as Ralts used his powers to force me in closer. It was a second or two before we looked at the still gawking water pokémon before I swam through the air over to her, "What, you feel left out?"

She dove under the water before I was hit with a stream of said water and got knocked down, surfacing for air before I grinned at Mudkip (who was now blushing like all hell) before she started yelling, "You...! You don't just kiss people at random, it isn't right!"

"What are you, my mother? You're sure yelling like one," I groaned while covering my ears, something I noticed Ralts doing too; either this was also hurting his head or he was having fun imitating me, which one didn't matter, "Just relax, it's not like I'm proposing or anything. Just a kiss, love!"

"Do _NOT_ call me love and don't come any closer!" A flailing arm was pointed at me while Mudkip swam away; so, instead, I dove under and yanked on her tail to pull her down. She yelped and glared at me before I surface again and laughed, Mudkip coming up and glaring at me before shaking her head, "You're a horrible pokémon..."

"Love me or leave me," I got another funny look from Mudkip, so what else was I to do but laugh... wait, wasn't it do to? To do? Tu tu? I didn't know anymore. I just laughed and floated there in the water before the blissful thing that was sleep took over me at long last.

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**Houndour's POV**

When I woke up I was in a bright room. Blearily I blinked out the light before I looked around me; the Mudkip, the Treecko and the Ralts I was currently travelling with were sound asleep on the same hard bed I was on. And then, I let out a low groan before lying back down; my head really hurt and it felt really big, almost as if I was carrying a Graveler on top of my shoulders.

There was a noise somewhere behind me before I could hear footsteps approaching us, and finally the humans belonging to those footsteps went through the sliding door and approached us on the table, "Ah, the Houndour is awake. It looks like the other pokémon are still asleep though... here."

I blinked as a dish of water was placed in front of me before gratefully beginning to lap at it. At least this was easing the pain in my head... I stopped as one of the humans began to pet me, the red headed female. The human males were tending to the other pokémon for the moment, something I noticed before I went back to taking in the water in front of me. They were still asleep, despite the humans trying to wake them up they continued to sleep. Then, thickly I heard one of the humans talking to me; it pounded into my head so harshly that I almost wanted to yelp, but soon enough they were done and left the room once more. That, again, left me alone as I went back to drinking the water.

I was about ready to go to sleep again then something caught my attention; the Treecko had woken up, a groan leaving him before he spoke up again, "Damned good Oran Berries... What're you staring at, mutt?"

I sighed at the mutt comment, so he still didn't like me. I couldn't necessarily blame him for that, but at the same time I was hoping that he'd at least be tolerant by now. I pushed the water dish towards the Treecko then, "Here. This should help your head not feel so large."

"Bah... how the bloody hell am I supposed to know that it's not poisoned?"

"The nurse brought it earlier, I already had some and I'm just fine."

"Blech! None for me if you drank it," Stubbornly the Treecko lied back down and faced the all opposite of me, and soon enough I sat down as well. It was only because of the transforming pink cat that the Treecko was letting me be close by, I could tell that much... Then, after all I had done it would be hard for any one of these pokémon to have a positive light about me. The Ralts was even more hostile, and if it weren't for the fact that I was a 'dark type' pokémon I probably would have been beaten half to death by its psychic powers by now.

Then, there was that Mudkip; She wasn't nearly as hostile towards me as the Treecko and the Ralts were, but at the same time she wasn't friendly. My only hope for ever gaining the trust of these pokémon would be for me to prove to them just how sorry I was when it came to the human trainer they sought out...

"_Just words won't earn their trust, Houndour. They're all stubborn like the pink cat that helped you was, but they're not as powerful._"

I jumped and yelped rather loudly when that voice came into my head, was that a psychic pokémon? While wildly looking around I managed to spot a floating pokémon with three stars on her head, those stars far outmatching the size of her body. The Treecko seemed to have noticed it too, for once he took a good look at the pokémon he turned over and clamped a hand over where his ear presumably was, "Go away, you bloody psychic! I'm trying to sleep off some Oran Berries and having hallucinations won't help me!"

Was she a hallucination? I had to wonder as the pokémon smiled while shaking her head, "_Just like the first time I found him... Well, he's not the one I wanted to talk to anyway, at least not right now,_" I blinked as the star pokémon turned to me again, and then I noticed that while looking at her I could see right through her; was she some sort of ghost pokémon? "_This is a projection, not a spirit. I'm simply not here in person, mostly because I can't be right now._"

I whimpered a little when she had said that, my ears flattening against my skull while I did so. For some reason this was really scaring me, though I felt a twinge of anger in the back of my mind as the pokémon laughed at me, "_I'm not going to hurt you, Houndour. There's no need to be frightened of me, I only want to give you some friendly advice._"

It was a moment or two before I straightened myself, determinedly looking onward to the star pokémon before I nodded, "I suppose I could use any advice I could get. It seems like all of the others are still uncomfortable around me... Despite it being understandable, I would rather that they give me a chance to help them before I leave them all."

"_Again, it won't be that simple Houndour; they probably won't trust you until you actually do get a chance to help them,_" The star pokémon sighed at me while shaking her head, a shrugging gesture made with tiny arms before she spoke again, "_Mew seems to know that you mean them no harm, however. He's going to be coming back soon enough._"

"Crescent's coming... I mean..."

"_It's all right to use his alias, that's what he wanted when he told it to you._"

My face burned in shame when she smiled at me once more, "So... Crescent is returning to us, then?"

"_Yes. He insisted on helping even though I said that he had done enough,_" Two bead-like black eyes opened to me now, though I noticed that there was a third on the star pokémon's stomach; I had to wonder what that was for, but the star pokémon was talking again and that got my attention, "_His reasoning was that... Well, someone Mew really cares about simply wouldn't forgive him if he didn't put in some real effort towards freeing that girl from Team Rocket's grasp._"

"_As for you, don't give up on the subject of their trust towards you. It might be harder for a couple of them to begin putting confidence in you, even if you do manage to help them,_" My heart sunk a little at those words, but the star pokémon seemed to catch that and quickly added something onto her words, "_But, that is the thing about trust; in order for it to be strong and true, it has to be built up over time. If they trusted you too easily, they know that they would be putting themselves into a position where they could easily be manipulated._"

"I see... Like how Big Sister too easily put trust in Master- ... the human that was formerly Master."

I almost forgot that, because of Crescent, I was free now. Free to do whatever I wished; to run home, to live happily, find a new home perhaps, but... After all I had done, it would be shameful to simply keep running when there was so much I could do to change things. And, that was exactly what I had to do. Maybe Sister would see things like I did too, if she was given the chance to...

"_Keep thinking like that, there is always something you can do to change things,_" The star pokémon smiled at me when she said this, and it was then that I had the odd suspicion that my mind was like an open book to her. Why did I know what a book was? They kept a lot of them around at the base where former Master was before I was freed, "_But... as hard as it will be, you have to treat your sister like she's your enemy. She will kill you if you don't._"

"... There isn't another way?" My voice, even in my mind it sounded desperate. My sister, she really would hurt me so? I knew that, the moment I was freed she would try to bring me back, but would she really turn on me so easily?

"_There isn't. At least, not right now,_" The star pokémon sighed before shaking her head, bead-like eyes closing before I noticed that her image was becoming more faint; was she leaving so soon? "_I should conserve my strength for a more important time. All I can tell you to do is keep going, but actually pressing on is up to you._"

"Wait!" My yelping seemed to have gotten the pokémon's attention as she faded even more, so I knew that my question had to be asked quickly, "What do I refer to you as, if the former aid was Crescent? I must know if we meet again!"

She smiled at me before nodding politely, "_I am known as Jirachi. That is no alias but my true name; I am so rarely heard of that an alias is not needed, after all,_" And then, with that the pokémon vanished. Jirachi... I had never heard of nor seen that pokémon before. There were a lot I hadn't seen, but if she was powerful enough to throw images of herself around, it meant that she was a legendary pokémon. Pokémon that there were so few of that meeting one only happened to very few, and it was then that I realized how blessed I was becoming since saved from Team Rocket. Maybe things were looking bright, but regardless...

No matter what happened, I would try my best. If not for the sake of these people or pokémon, if not even for my sister... I would have to try for myself, as selfish as it sounded.

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Yay, I finally updated. It's not a great chapter, I don't feel that it is nor do I expect you to think so. However, what I am willing to say is that I'm glad it's up but if anything it's a filler chapter that lets you look more into Houndour's mind. You will see another update from me soon and as Jirachi has said, Mew will be coming back soon. And, he's bringing a friend. If you want to see what I mean, keep watch for the next chapter!


	15. Chaotic Journey

Okay, I know what you all have been thinking. I need to update A LOT more often and Ralts is a really iffy character. Ralts, I can tell you that his character is going to become a lot more solid pretty soon. As for updating more often... hopefully that will be solved as I actually have an idea of where I will be going with this and with future chapters. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate your patience with my updating. Without further adieu, on with the chapter!

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**Jack's POV**

"Everyone, wake up! I've got good news about Alexa!"

As if the ruckus the other pokémon were now causing wasn't enough, Idiot stormed into the room even more loudly (and caused my head ache to hurt even more) before he started, "What're you talking about Greg?"

"This guy just phoned me. He said he knew where Alexa was and said he'd help us. I kept trying to ask why and who he was but..." I stopped paying attention at that point in favour of searching for food; I was too bloody hungry to really give a damn on what they were talking about.

After wandering out of the room and into the bigger one where a whole lot of people were, I spotted a bowl of food and dove forward. Unfortunately, some bloody human picked it up and gave it to what looked like a pink fur ball. My head was pounding even more now, something that irritated me to no end while I glared at the small pokémon. But, that annoyance faded when I saw some food getting nudged to me from Mudkip. Her voice made my ears ring but it was inviting all the same, "Eat up, we have to go soon. I hope you're not feeling too poorly..."

"It's time to eat!" I couldn't help but grin as I dived into the food, the taste of it almost heavenly as I pretty much inhaled all that was in the bowl in front of me. I probably would have gotten to more if I had the chance, but it looked like Mudkip and Houndour were guarding their dishes carefully. I couldn't help but wonder one thing as my head ache finally started to leave...

"Where the bloody hell is Ralts?" I would really regret asking that in the next couple of seconds.

The next thing I knew, my head was being pounded painfully into one of the walls of the Pokémon Center, a psychic voice booming around me, "_What the hell did you do to me yesterday?! You're terrible terrible terrible terrible TERRIBLE!_" Someone had a wicked temper.

By the time Ralts had finally stopped banging me against the wall (only because Idiot had the sense to return the psychotic psychic to his pokéball) I was wobbling around the place, blinking blearily as everything was still spinning. Maybe I should have just kept Ralts drunk to avoid this kind of damage... At least then when he was using his psychic powers he wasn't smashing me into stuff while trying to break my head off.

It was soon after that when Greg returned Mudkip to her pokéball before he and Idiot stared at the mutt and me, "You two are walking. You'll be able to pick up on any trouble a lot faster than the rest of us. Come on out, Swellow!"

I stared at the giant pigeon while it stared at me, if I didn't know any better I'd say the damn thing was hypnotized. Wait, did I know any better? Probably not, which made it even more creepy damned actually. Finally, after what seemed like at least five minutes, the bird squawked out something, "You'll stop staring at me or you'll be kissin' the dirt, got it?"

"You stared at me first."

A wing was pointed at me while the Swellow narrowed his eyes at me, a low and very eerie voice being used to talk at me now, "You've got moxy, but don't push it. Otherwise you'll find yourself without that tail of yours when you wake up."

"Swellow!" For whatever reason Greg was calling the bird I was just thankful that he stopped glaring at me now, at least the white-haired one was good for something. Apparently the bird was only released to scout the area ahead of us and warn us of anything coming up, and as the feather cushion took off I looked to the mutt who just looked at me back.

"Should we be glad that he is up there and not down here?"

"So we _can_ agree on some things. Yes, we should," At least the mutt was perceptive. Still didn't like him though.

At long last we actually started moving towards what the humans called 'Rustboro City', probably another place where the humans had all of their buildings to live in and such. It was a pretty long and boring path just outside of that sea captain's and his pokémon's house, but soon enough we reached a gate. Behind it there were a lot of trees, and it seemed really dark in there too. But, unfortunately enough, according to Idiot it was the fastest way to the next city. I really had to get a better agent.

What, you don't like human sayings? You have no sense of humour, really.

There really isn't much to say about what happened in the forest, we just walked aimlessly for a while. It seemed like the combined efforts of the damn bird, Greg and Idiot kept getting us lost. Which of course was beyond annoying, and of course it inevitably led to trouble. What kind of trouble? The kind carrying a short green stub that looked like it could have been either a plant or a pokémon. And it was guess number two, something I found out when it started moving wildly in the arms of the human holding it.

"What the... You're the trouble makers from the Dewford Base!"

The little tree stump thingy finally managed to run away as the grunt faced us, and unfortunately I could recognize that damn red human letter anywhere; this was definitely a Team Rocket member. Which meant that the guy would be a pain in the ass to deal with, that being proven as Idiot and Greg tried to go after him, the grunt now seeming to run for his life while shouting to himself. _Bloody wanker. Why do they always run?_

As it turned out, the human wasn't muttering to himself; he had used some device that ended up alerting others of our presence. How did I know? Well, the people swarming around the other human was a bloody obvious clue. All that one human did was stall for time, and if it weren't so annoying I probably would have commented about how brilliant it was.

Instead, there was something else to be said, "Well, at least they saved us the trouble of finding them. Now what?"

Houndour stared at me when I had said that, right before he yelped and jumped back. I could see why too, one of those Dustox things had dive bombed towards it. And, as luck would have it, another one came for me. In fact if I hadn't fallen over then it probably would have nailed me right between the eyes with that damned wind it blew at me.

"I. _Hate_. Bugs," I glared at the moth thing as it flew over my head, and of course things could only get worse; it looked like these humans had caught several of the stump things, and they started coming after me as well. Looked like the Swellow from earlier came down and started to help, but so far I was still getting swarmed by the bugs and the stumps. And then, even more bugs showed up when the Rockets released them from their pokéballs.

"Go, Beedrill! Use Twineedle!"

I didn't know what to be more freaked about; It was a choice between the giant bugs just released had stingers and were trying to use them on me or that all of those humans had said those words at the same time.

The damn bugs didn't give me time to decide, I was too busy trying to make sure I didn't get skewered by the needles, it was like the bugs wanted Jack-Kabobs or something! Granted, they had been ordered to attack, but unfortunately I wasn't the only victim; Idiot, Greg, Houndour and the Swellow were getting swarmed as well. And it looked like the mutt had gotten hit a few times, since he was running with a limp now. I might have hated him but I hated the bugs even more. Mostly because they were trying to kill me at that moment and the mutt had left me alone since Dewford.

I had to stop paying attention to the others because of a piercing sensation in my side. One of the bugs had finally hit me, and it stung like a bitch. I ended up using my tail to pound at the bug until it left me alone, and unfortunately my blood looked like it was almost purple. The bloody stings were poisonous? Wonderful, just wonderful...

But, finally some bugs showed up to help us. Things that looked similar (but a lot less ugly than) the Dustox things came out of no where, showering the other bugs with different kinds of winds that made a lot of them... Uhm... _Buzz_ in pain. Finally, there were bugs I liked. Because they weren't trying to kill me, obviously.

It looked like they were attacking the Rockets too. Which was probably a good thing because I started to feel more and more dizzy with every step. It wasn't the good kind of dizzy either, my head felt even worse than me being on a hangover. Before I could fall over though, Greg had picked me up, and with Idiot carrying the mutt we managed to run out of the forest in the middle of the battle. And there was no way I was going to object, not with my head acting the way it did.

Soon enough the trees thinned and we were on another path now, my head feeling hotter than a Cheri Berry while everything kept spinning. However, rather suddenly something sweet was shoved into my mouth, someone forcing me to swallow before I blinked. Almost instantly I wasn't dizzy anymore, something I found odd as I looked up at Greg in confusion.

At least he wasn't completely oblivious; he seemed to notice what I was confused about and explained, "That was a Pecha Berry. It cures poisons from pokémon stings almost instantly. We had to give one to Houndour too, since you guys really took a beating in there."

For once I was glad that the guy was around. I nodded before looking over to try and spot the bird. I couldn't find it anywhere, but I noticed that Greg took out a pokéball and threw it, "Swellow, come on back out!"

Great, bird breath was back. He looked like he wasn't hurt at all either, bloody bastard probably had the advantage against the bugs. I glared when he smirked at me, but unfortunately I was too distracted to do anything about it; Crescent was coming back in his Vaporeon guise. How did I know it was him? Because he started talking to us, opening with all-too-familiar sarcasm.

"What took you so long? We even got a bunch of Beautifly to help you out! Slowpokes..."

The Swellow stared at the Vaporeon (along with Idiot and Greg obviously) while Houndour sighed in relief, but something bothered me about that comment, "Where do you see a pink tail and a dopey expression?"

"One of the two isn't bad."

I was too annoyed to come up with another comment, something that made him laugh at us before turning his back to us and moving towards the city, "Come on, let's go. Anti's waiting and he's probably bored out of his skull."

"Anti?"

"You'll find out about him later. Right now, we've gotta move remember?"

I hated the fact that the other pokémon was right, mostly because I was enjoying the contest of wits. Even if I was losing. In silence the group ran towards the city, Crescent leading us into the pokémon center where we were all treated. After about 15 minutes Houndour and I had bandages around our middles, the two of us along with the humans walking out. What happened to the bird? He was in his pokéball, which was good because he kept glaring at me. And I didn't like getting glared at, I can tell you that much.

In silence we went to the outskirts of the city, looking towards the ocean and spotting the base across the water. I just had a feeling that this was going to be one hell of a ride, so there was only one thing to say. At least, I thought there was, but nothing came to mind. Thankfully Crescent said something for me.

"Okay, I don't have any comments that wouldn't make you gag. So let's go in and kick their butts already."

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Yay, I finally finished the chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it, honestly it was a pain to write until the fight scene started. I'm sorry I took so long to update, but now I have a great idea about where it's going so I know that I'm going to be able to give you the next chapter _a lot_ sooner! Thanks for staying with me all of you readers, and hope you're eager for more! See you next time!


	16. One Down

Hi, it's me again! I'm here and bringing you yet another chapter of **Hoenn Chronicles**, this time with a sooner update! I know, I've been really bad about updating, and honestly I'm trying to make it up to you! Also, you may see some references from the stories my writing partners (**Dark Magician Girl Aeris** and **Buwaro**) are working on, and if you haven't already go and read them! The names of the stories are **Anomaly** and **Tales of Flame**. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this (almost) pointless crap and I won't stall anymore; here comes **Chapter 16: One Down**!

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**Jack's POV**

"So, are we swimming over there or do you have a better idea, Crescent?"

I stared over that the Vaporeon-in-disguise when I asked the question. The mutt, Greg and Idiot were also looking at him before the humans looked at each other, seeming to discuss some things and glancing at Crescent sceptically. I forgot they couldn't understand us, and there I really had to wonder about the intelligence of humans in general. They could only understand the languages they spoke amongst themselves, and yet pokémon could understand both them and any of the other species of pokémon just fine. Really, why was the world like that?

"Quit with the philosophical crap about how stupid humans are. As fun as that probably is, I know how I'm getting us over to the base and you're not allowed to ignore us anymore."

"Don't read my mind, it isn't an open book! Bloody psychic..."

"Watch it, this 'bloody psychic' can blow your head wide open if he so chose to. Besides, if you don't like getting your mind read then stop thinking so loudly," Crescent grinned at me mischievously before nodding towards Houndour, "You know what to do, right?"

"I don't want to go onto Swellow's back," Houndour whimpered when the suggestion from Crescent was made, and I couldn't help it but I smirked when he did that. Finally, the damn mutt was doing something amusing, just because he had to work with the bird. Though, admittedly I did feel a little sorry for him, but only a little, "Why do I have to be the only one who does?"

"Because you're a fire type. The rest of us can just swim over but you'll get weakened if you do," Crescent sighed and shook his head before smirking, "At least, that's the human reasoning for it, they explained it while Jack here was thinking about how dumb they were. Personally, I agree with him."

I almost wanted to laugh but for the sake of not earning any more confused looks from the humans I refrained from it. They were really out of the loop; it was then that I thought it was sort of a shame that they couldn't understand us. But, at least we could finally get to that base and kick some tail. Maybe even have a few Oran Berries after.

"Okay Swellow, be careful! You don't want to drop Houndour, we need him," Greg called out after the bird as it took off, Houndour hanging onto it for dear life before he looked down at Crescent and I, "Okay. You two, Norman and I have to swim over. Let's go so we can meet Swellow and Houndour on the other side!"

However, just as Idiot jumped into the water and began to swim Greg took two pokéballs from his belt and threw them into the air, "Go Mudkip! Lombre!" When the balls opened I saw Mudkip and this weird green thing with what looked like a green plate on its head. The Lombre and Mudkip were both in the water when Greg told them, "Swim to the other side! We'll meet you there!"

"This should be interesting," Crescent nodded to himself before looking at me, "What're you waiting for? Aren't you getting into the water?"

"Fine, fine, don't let me be lazy," I sighed when I was finally noticed again, and unfortunately it was to do something physical. Ah well, at least it was just swimming. As long as I didn't have to deal with annoying insect pokémon again I'd be able to deal with it.

But, then I guess I just had the feeling that I wouldn't be that lucky. Ah well, can't win them all.

When I finally did dive into the water I felt a cool sensation around me; it was nice to go swimming again, I'd have to do it again casually. Whenever I got time to. But, unfortunately enough, there was this nagging feeling in the back of my brain about my having to hurry for some reason. I had a feeling that Crescent was behind it but ignored the thought and instead kept swimming until I reached the sand at the other side. With all of us (except for the bird and the mutt) now soaked we looked towards the cave.

The humans probably made plans among themselves because, once Crescent and I got there, it seemed like we came in the middle of a conversation, with Greg responding to idiot, "Norman... Are you sure? We tried that last time, they'd be expecting that."

"I'm sure. For some reason, I just know it'll work out this time."

"_And his being so sure is my doing,_" I blinked at Crescent when he said that, and it seemed to get the attention of the Lombre, the mutt, the bird and Mudkip as well; he must have been speaking telepathically to all of us but in a way that the humans couldn't hear him, "_Don't worry about it. They might be expecting us to sneak in through the vents, but what they're not expecting is already in there._"

"Are you a psychic pokémon?" Oh, right, Mudkip didn't know that Crescent was some legendary pokémon called Mew. She blinked and shook her head in confusion, "You look like a water pokémon."

"Long story, no time to explain now," With a sigh Crescent looked towards the entrance, "We should go in now-"

"What about the Ralts?" This time it was the mutt who spoke up. Crescent seemed even more annoyed before he got up towards Idiot and prodded at one of the pokéballs on his belt. It seemed to get the message across because Idiot nodded and let Ralts out of his pokéball then.

And, the second he did that, I found myself about three metres in the air.

"_OIY_! Put me down you bloody Ralts! I didn't do anything!"

"Ralts, put him down!" Apparently Idiot had no power over the tiny one because I kept going higher and higher into the air, "Ralts, if you're going to do that I'm going to have to withdraw you to the pokéball! Then you won't be able to help Alexa!"

That definitely got the pokémon's attention, but it didn't work out in my favour. Bloody hell... Those two words went through my mind as I began to plummet, right before my fall seemed to slow down and I landed on my feet, "What-"

"You can thank me later," Crescent smirked before he nodded towards the entrance, "Now come on, let's go already. We've gotta get your trainer back, remember?"

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**Ralts' POV**

I was just about to give Jack the beating of his life when my trainer's father stepped in. As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. Beating the Treecko would have to wait.

Shame, the Vaporeon stopped him from going splat too.

I took one last look at the humans before we went inside. It was Jack, the Houndour we met at Dewford, Mudkip, Crescent and I at this point. I kind of felt nervous floating around in the dark like this, and it didn't help that the hallways kept flashing red and loud noises kept going on and off. Of course I hated almost everyone who was there; in fact the only two I didn't hate were Crescent and Mudkip. But, as we rounded a corner, something almost made my eyes pop right out of the veil that was covering them.

Something that looked like Crescent's real form floated right by in front of us, chased by several humans in black clothes. The floating cat stuck his tongue out at the humans as several darts shot right through him, "Can't catch me idiots! Just keep following me and I can kick all of your asses!"

I could only gape as the cat zoomed around the corner, the humans furiously following it. It didn't help that the cat wagged his rear end tauntingly in front of the humans, in fact it probably made them even more mad. Whether or not that was a good thing was difficult to determine then. Jack finally said something worth saying, "Was that Crescent?"

"No, I'm Crescent."

"Then who the bloody hell was that?"

"Anti. Are you done with the stupid questions now?"

Okay, didn't like Crescent anymore. He was mean, and even if I didn't like Jack his questions weren't stupid. I didn't have time to dwell on it though as Crescent ran forward, "Come on, we don't have all day! With them chasing around Anti, we have time to get to the human who can stop all of this!"

I had no idea what the Vaporeon was talking about but I had to take his word for it. However, something out of the corner of my eye distracted me; Alexa! Quickly I began to float off towards her, she seemed to be going somewhere else. Why was her hand twitching like that? Maybe I could try and help her...

"_Ralts, get back here! You can't help her right now unless you come with us,_" I nearly jumped when Crescent invaded my mind like that, looking back towards them now. Unfortunately, what I saw in front of my face was a growling pokémon that looked like Houndour. But, it was larger and a lot scarier looking, something that Crescent seemed to note with only two words, "_Oh fuck._"

"So you trouble makers have returned. If the others weren't busy chasing Mew we would have found you before now," I looked behind me and saw the human that controlled the growling pokémon (and formerly Houndour, but as far as I knew the latter was on our side now) smirking before she pointed a finger at me, "We should have finished you off when we had the chance. You and that other little Ralts..."

What did she... No. It couldn't be. I stumbled back into the larger pokémon before I was thrown into the air painfully, landing on the ground beside Houndour. I didn't even cry out, the shock was so much; it was those two? They had...?

Houndour looked away from me while Mudkip, Jack and Crescent just looked confused. I didn't pay attention to them though, Houndour was my current interest. And he was looking depressed, guilty even. It couldn't be, but still I had to ask, "That was you? You attacked us those years ago...?"

"I'm sorry," The dog pokémon's ears flattened against his head while he closed his eyes, and I could feel more grief filling my chest as he spoke again, "I didn't want to. I had no choice, I was working for former Master back then..."

"Stop being such a baby! I know I enjoyed killing them," The other pokémon spoke behind us before she started to laugh, "It didn't matter if Master ordered you to or not, you still did it! I don't know about you, but I was finally glad to stop their screaming over their _precious_ children!"

I simply stared at Houndour, allowing both his words and those of the other pokémon to click. With their human, they had been the two... The pokémon that killed my parents, leaving my brother and I orphans...?

An overwhelming anger began to emerge, voices from the outside trying to overtake my emotions, but all for nothing. Nothing but uncontrolled rage made sense at the time and it was then I felt building fury spill to the outside. Everything became white, my skin felt not, and I felt that I was changing dramatically. Two words came to mind, two words that would alter my life forever.

_I'm... Evolving._

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**Jack's POV**

"What the hell is he doing?" I couldn't help but gape as Ralts started to emit blinding white light. I had to shield my eyes with my paws just so I could bear to look at him. Was this some dangerous psychic attack I didn't know about?

"I think he's evolving!" Mudkip shouted out her answer, proving me wrong before she looked to Crescent, "What do we do?"

"Run for it! Ralts' new form will handle things here, but we'll be killed if we don't leave!" There really wasn't a more convincing argument than that. But, somehow I doubted that Ralts' new power wouldn't hold a Lanturn to Crescent's strength.

With just Mudkip, the mutt, Crescent and I now, we managed to escape, now hearing cries of battle on top of the alarms in the base. That would probably take care of the larger mutt and that bitchy human. But, I had to wonder where Idiot and Greg were. Were they in the base already or still standing outside? It didn't matter, we'd blow this base up ourselves if we had to!

... We'd get Alexa out first of course. I knew I was forgetting something... But, it wasn't going to be as easy as that two step plan. There was still the bloody contraption on her head, and just taking it off wouldn't do any good. It would kill her, something I remembered from the last time we encountered Team Rocket. So, just how did Crescent plan to get the bloody device off of her?

We kept running away from the battle cries, and soon enough it was only the blaring sirens and flashing red lights surrounding us now. Why did all of the hallways have to look the same? Surprisingly Crescent seemed to know where he was going though, and soon enough he stopped in front of a door before he used his psychic powers to open it.

Inside there was a human in a white lab coat, kind of like the one Trunk always wore when I was kept in his laboratory? Yeah, like that. The human stared at us and started shouting something but luckily enough Crescent interfered, via psychic powers of course, "_Kazu! Stop freaking out, we're not part of Team Rocket!_"

Unfortunately it only seemed to confuse the human more but he was once again cut off by the pseudo Vaporeon, "_Look, all you need to know is that I'm a friend of Eve's, or Evetwo as you'd know her. And that I'm here to help you out in freeing both your friend Reiko and that girl Team Rocket's experimenting on! Now will you just let me look at the damn screen for a second?_"

"You're not being a smart ass. What gives?" I asked the question as Crescent jumped up onto a chair (once the human named Kazu had gotten out of the way) and looked at the computer screen. He ignored my comment completely, instead taking on a face that looked very very sour, "What now?"

"Crescent...? What's the matter?" Mudkip seemed to be worried about the look on his face, and unfortunately it was worrying me too. And then the mutt had to speak up as well.

"Will the girl be okay?" Houndour's ears were once again flattened against his skull as he whined out the words, seeming the most distressed out of all of us.

"Kazu's been working his ass off to deactivate the machine during this chaos, he hasn't done it yet though..." Crescent bit his lower lip before he looked at the mutt, Mudkip and I. And then, he finally spoke the words, "Right now, she's in the middle of an order. To exterminate Reiko Himegawa."

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Ooooh cliff-hanger! I needed to do that, it's been the first time in a while that you've been stuck with one of those. But yeah, I'm glad I could finish up this chapter on a very tense note, mostly because it gives me somewhere to start. Keep reading if you want to see how this whole mess wraps up! Until the next chapter, I have to keep writing and working with school! So, see you all next chapter!


	17. Tense Moments

Hi, me again. Yeah, you're probably tired of these by now but usually they're only used for notes and for shameless advertising. This time, the top note is only for shameless advertising, I might have notes for you at the end though. So, here goes.

Go and read **Tales of Flame** and **Anomaly** already! They are by super-terrific authors named **Buwaro** and **Dark Magician Girl Aeris**, they are related to each other and they're related to this story too! In fact you might even see a couple of my characters popping up in their fan fictions at points. If you want to see what I mean, don't stand here! Read them after you're done with this chapter!

That being said, I won't make you wait any longer. Go ahead and enjoy **Chapter 17: Tense Moments**!

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**Houndour's POV**

I glanced around until my gaze rested on the shocked faces of the Treecko referred to as Jack and the Mudkip who had been right there with us while we infiltrated the base outside of Rustboro City. I could see the painful shock in their eyes when Crescent told us of the orders; they all reflected the sinking feeling I had in my heart. She was being ordered to kill someone... Why? Why would she...

No. She would never do that, not if she had a choice. That was why we were trying so hard to free her.

I heard a loud squeaking noise and turned to the door (everyone else must have heard it too, for I heard them moving about and even heard a foul line from Jack), and soon enough I saw a psychic pokémon flying right in front of it to the other side, followed by another pokémon I knew too well. _Sister..._

"_Houndour! You take Mudkip and go help out Kirlia!_" Crescent's voice boomed around me, the command nearly being automatic as Mudkip and I began to run out of the room and follow Sister. Just what a Kirlia was, I didn't know. But, what I did know was that I had to follow Crescent's orders if I wanted everything to be all right, "_Jack, Kazu and I will work on freeing Alexa's mind! Don't worry about us!_"

I faintly heard the human asking Crescent about his telepathy as I ran after Sister, but ignored it in favour of looking ahead; the psychic pokémon I saw go flying looked a lot like Ralts, but at the same time it wasn't. It was bigger, seemed more delicate and had twin cuts in its veil so that the eyes were visible. Ralts had emitted blinding light earlier though, and Mudkip said that he was evolving...

"You... My parents..." My ears perked at the weak voice of the psychic pokémon, and with a flip of my stomach I saw a crimson stream trailing from his mouth. He was bleeding from the inside... Sister had probably hurt him badly, that much being obvious as the other pokémon tried and failed to stand, "You'll... You'll pay for hurting them..."

"You're so weak, what're you going to do? I doubt you can throw another steel plate at me," As if she hadn't noticed us Sister laughed cruelly at the pokémon I knew was formerly Ralts, which caused Mudkip to narrow her eyes at Sister while she continued on, "This is where you die. Don't fret about losing your trainer, you'll have your parents in Hell soon enough!"

I could only watch helplessly as I saw Sister charge a fire attack in her mouth; my feet seemed stuck to the ground, the conflicts of saving the pokémon that was once Ralts and fighting Sister flooding through my head. The psychic pokémon needed help, badly but...

I couldn't do it. I couldn't step forward to stop her, as if fear had rooted me to the ground I stood upon. That star pokémon, Jirachi, had warned me that I would have to fight Sister but... I could not bring myself to fight against her. She was still my sister, and a part of me couldn't bear to actually try and hurt her with all of my strength.

Some noise snapped me out of my thoughts, however. I heard yelping and when I looked, Sister and Mudkip were wrestling on the ground, Mudkip squirting streams of water right into Sister's face. Sister ended up throwing Mudkip off of her with a growl, Mudkip ignoring her in favour of shouting at me, "Get that other pokémon out of here! I'll handle the Houndoom!"

"But..."

I was cut off by a yelp as I felt something hot collide with my side, though granted it didn't hurt; I felt myself becoming stronger when I was engulfed in the flames Sister had shot at me. I could only stare at her as she began to charge at me, Mudkip once again intervening to fight with Sister, "Go already, Houndour! Get Kirlia out of here!"

"Little Brother!" My ears perked when Sister started to yell at me, glaring at me while she pinned Mudkip to the ground, "Why are you fighting against us? You know you belong with Master! With Team Rocket! I'll have to kill you if you don't come back!"

My ears flattened against my head while both pokémon stared at me, giving me strange looks while they did so. I knew I had to save the psychic pokémon I knew was Ralts but... Sister truly seemed like she wanted me to come back. Maybe that star pokémon was wrong... Maybe I was the one who had to change so I could see Sister be her old self again...

"I'll... I'll kill you both..." Ralts' evolved form spoke again, I felt my stomach flipping when he said that. No, I had to save him... Sister encouraged me to do bad things, I couldn't trust her! But, it was so hard not too, even looking at the injured pokémon she had fought.

Mudkip and Sister continued to scrap as I finally found the courage to move, going to the psychic pokémon and lifting him onto my back. I had to get him out of there, that was the most important thing. However, just as I turned a corner I heard a yelp coming from Sister, my head craning back to take a look.

The water pokémon seemed to have knocked out Sister before she ran up next to me, frowning before she asked, "That was your sister? Did you two really..."

I couldn't look at Mudkip while we tried to head back towards Crescent and the others as I nodded, and I could feel her inquiring gaze on me the whole time. How could I tell her about all that I had done in the past...?

"Misdreavus! Use Shadow Ball on them!"

I yelped when the sudden burst of dark energy surrounded Mudkip, Kirlia and I; Mudkip and Kirlia were both sent flying several meters in front of me while I collapsed. I barely managed to turn around enough to see that it was the ghost pokémon that belonged to former Master who fired it.

"So, my little traitorous pokémon has come crawling back. You figured that we'd find you no matter what, huh?" I looked into former Master's cold eyes then, a low whimper escaping me as I gazed at both her and the ghost pokémon she had released against me. I couldn't... I couldn't bring myself to fight them...

Even if they were wrong, they were all I had.

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**Jack's POV**

"What's taking so long?" I looked at the pseudo Vaporeon and the human in annoyance while they seemed to be working together on the computer, leaving me to stand around bored and listening to sirens blaring while red lights kept flashing outside of the room. Which of course wasn't the best way to spend my time, now if I had some Oran Berries...

"_Stop complaining, we're working as hard as we can to free **your** trainer!_" I winced when Crescent's voice boomed in my mind, he sounded irritated. It seemed like he was really distracted, as if something else was going on in the back of his mind. What was so important that it made this supposed legendary being so distracted? "_Kazu, how much longer is it going to take?_"

"I've just gotten halfway through the shut down protocol. It's going to take at least five more minutes," Gravely the human spoke to us, causing Crescent's face to go sour when he spoke again, "At this rate, I'm not going to be able to shut it down in time to stop that kid's actions. The most I can do faster is override the command Kujaku gave her."

"_Let's do that then. Anything to buy time,_" And then the two continued to ignore me in silence as they typed away at those keyboard things. Leaving me with absolutely nothing to do. Nothing at all. Nope, nothing to do. Can you tell just how bored I am yet?

Crescent froze for a second, looking at what seemed to be a map on a screen while he shook his head, "_She's already there! Kazu, hurry-_"

"Oh screw it," I sighed and hopped up onto the computer, right before smacking my tail onto what seemed like a good area. This earned some very shocked glances from Crescent and the human before Crescent shouted at me, "_YOU **IDIOT**!_"

What was his problem? I just smashed a machine that was controlling Alexa's brain, big deal.

... Okay, maybe it was a big deal. Oops.

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**Reiko's POV**

It must have been a few minutes since this kid showed up with a gun in her hand. And, since then she just stood there while pointing it at my head, this blank look in her eyes while she shook. If it weren't for the fact that she had her finger around the trigger I probably would have tried to smack the thing out of her hand by now. But, something was wrong; it looked like she was ordered to kill me (Team Rocket bastards were breaking their word, damn them), but she wasn't just yet. I had to wonder...

And yet, fear kept me from asking. I was so scared, not sure how to react with a gun's barrel staring me down and just waiting for something to happen. It seemed like it was an eternity from when the kid entered the room, her hand shaking as she continued to show what that Kujaku bitch called 'resistance'. It sickened me to watch them doing this to some innocent kid, but at the moment I was helpless.

It was kind of surprising, to admit something like that to myself. Me, helpless? Any other time and it would have been laughable. But, at this point, that's just what I was. But, there was something pushing me to try anyway, "Hey, kid! What do you think you're doing, working for Team Rocket? You don't want to, right?"

I ended up running right up to the bars and staring the kid in the face, watching her hand continue to shake more violently. For whatever reason it seemed like she was listening to me, something that made me feel a bit more confident. Kind of surprising, considering that I was practically staring death in the face, but this is me we're talking about. Even if it is stupid, there was no way in hell I was just going to lie down and let someone get puppeted by those evil bastards!

"Come on, break through! I can tell that you're strong, kid! Break through it's-"

"Die."

I was almost entirely consumed by terror as I heard the bang following the trigger's pull.

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Ooooh! Will Houndour, Mudkip and Kirlia be able to escape Kujaku's wrath? Will Reiko die instantly from the gun Alexa fired? Will the lovechild of Flame and Scarlet grow up to become the new world leader?

I threw that last one in there to make sure that you were still paying attention.

Yeah, it's a short chapter, it took longer than it should have and for that I apologize. However, you can't make me apologize for leaving you with another cliff hanger; those are way too much fun. So, you'll just have to see how it all ends in future chapters! Thanks for sticking with me this far, I hope I haven't disappointed you! Until next time dear readers, farewell!


	18. Sky Rocketing

Hi, me again. Sorry for taking a while to update, a lot of shit has been happening in my life. But, that's no excuse for taking so long with this chapter, right? I know I promised you readers that I would update more often, and honestly I'm trying. Please bear with me, I'll try and make sure that these future additions to **Hoenn Chronicles** are more than worth the wait. Thank you for taking the time to read this, you can enjoy **Chapter 18: Sky Rocketing** now.

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**Reiko's POV**

That... had been _way_ too close.

It took me a second to realize that no, I wasn't dead. That girl had missed, though granted it really was a near miss; I had the cut on my cheek to prove it. Just when that kid had pulled the trigger, she fell to the ground, making the bullet swerve just enough for me to not get my head blown off. I was still sitting there in shock, having fallen back when she tried to shoot me. But, now that I had snapped out of it, in front of me was a green-haired kid holding the sides of her head while screaming in pain.

"Christ... What the heck is that thing doing to you?" Frowning, I hesitantly approached the kid (she dropped the gun so it was safe to say that she wouldn't kill me now), right before noticing the gun was in reach from the bars. Translation, I could shoot the damn lock off.

_Come on, have one more bullet_... After thinking that I frowned slightly, backing away from the door before taking aim. If I did this right, I could free myself, get the metal thing off of that kid's head and get the hell out of here. I couldn't help but smile to myself though, mostly because even though that kid was in pain... She wasn't being controlled. Kazu must have finally deactivated it; I'd have to congratulate him on his timing later. Right now, I had to block out the kid's screaming so I could aim.

Trust me; it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

"Ready," I took a breath and held it while I took aim, my arm quaking. What if I missed and hit that kid? It seemed like she had passed out, but still... Even without the screaming I was nervous as all hell. You'd be too if you weren't too sure about how to aim a gun, "Steady... Go!"

For the second time that day I was unbelievably lucky. Not only did I hit the lock but it went right into the hole and right through it, landing and skidding against the ground until it hit the wall. Unfortunately enough, that bullet going right through the lock wasn't enough to break it open, something I found out when I tried to push the cell door. But, thankfully, it had some help.

"GO _DOWN_, DAMN IT!" I shouted at the door while trying to kick it down, and though my foot hurt now I was finally successful; the damn lock gave way and the cell opened up, giving me a chance to finally get the hell out of there. In fact, I almost ran for it before I paused, looking at the ground, "I knew I was forgetting something..."

After picking up the unconscious body of the kid (and crushing the mind controlling thing with my foot for extra luck), I began to run down a hallway to try and find a way out, but what I found was something shocking instead, "What the-? A _Mew_?"

I stood there dumbfounded as I saw what seemed to be a dark grey (and partially see-through) pokémon flying at me, going right _through_ me before it paused and turned to look at me, "_Uh oh._"

"There it is! It's helping the prisoners escape!" Just about a billion grunts turned the corner, all with various tranquilizer guns in their hands and all running at me and the cat pokémon at what seemed to be top speed. So, really there was only one thing to do; run for my life while following the pokémon that seemed to be Mew.

Which was a lot easier said than done, seeing as I was still carrying a kid that was currently unconscious and slung over my shoulder.

It seemed like this Mew was leading me in the right direction, but something was off; clearly the rockets weren't trying to shoot me or they would have hit by now, they kept trying to shoot at the Mew in front of me instead. And every single shot that should have sent it down went right through it. I'd really have to ask later, but right now it was time to run for my life, not time to quiz the ancient floating pokémon about why the hell this stuff was happening.

And I was fully aware of the damn thing using telepathy to talk to me. Otherwise I wouldn't have thought about quizzing it later.

Right now, I was seeing a way out of the base. There was a door wide open in front of me, and after going out it the pokémon led me out and out of the line of fire. I ended up hiding behind a few bushes and putting the kid down while I saw tranquilizer darts shooting right through the Mew, falling back to the ground soon enough. Just how stupid were those guys anyway? If it didn't work the first time, it wasn't going to work the fifty-billionth time either.

However, it seemed like the Mew led them outside for a reason; the building started emitting a siren rather than an alarm. That could only mean one thing; the base was about to blow up.

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**Jack's POV**

"_I think it actually worked._"

Crescent and the human stared at me, their eyes going back and forth from the computer screen before they stayed on me, "_You actually managed to beat the mind control device. Who knew smashing your tail against the control center would actually work?_"

"See, you don't have to think too hard. Just smashing things will always work."

"_It's easy to tell that you and Fervo are related... Your technological expertise is identical to his._"

I had a feeling that I had just been insulted. But, the human interrupted the pseudo Vaporeon right then and there, "All right, let's get the hell out of here! I'll ask about the psychic powers later, but it won't be long before-"

"Vigoroth, restrain that rocket!"

And just in time, Idiot came in to screw things up. Crescent and I quickly turned as the ape-like pokémon tackled the human in the lab coat, causing him to cry out, "H-Hey! Get this crazy pokémon off of me!" It was kind of funny to watch him freak out like that, so what else could I do but laugh?

I felt Crescent glare at me before he used his psychic powers to talk to idiot, "_Wait, he's all right! He just freed your daughter from Team Rocket's control! Call off the monkey already!_"

I only laughed harder at the look on Idiot's face when Crescent yelled at him, and after a second or two Vigoroth was ordered to climb off of the other human. I honestly didn't think I'd get a good laugh out of this trip but am I ever glad I did! Needlessly said, Greg followed Idiot into the room soon after, the Swellow from earlier perched on his shoulder.

"What happened?"

"I think the Vaporeon just used psychic powers to tell me this guy freed Alexa..."

"Look, I think we can all ask questions later. Right now, don't we have to get the hell out of here before we're ambushed?"

"It's a little too late for that, traitor. I just didn't think you'd have the balls to turn on us again, Kazu."

Now that was a voice that wasn't funny at all. Before I could see just who the voice belonged to though, the mutt and this dainty looking pink and green thing were thrown onto me while Mudkip landed on Crescent. I was pretty much crushed under my load, why couldn't the bloody psychic get the heavier load?

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I should be more concerned about the health of the pokémon that just got thrown on top of me. But, please try to understand that they were _heavy_, damn it! At that point I was just hoping they didn't crush my lunges.

I only managed to look up enough to see that it was that human Kujaku who had thrown those pokémon onto us, a floating grey thing beside her and smirking evilly at us. Granted, it wasn't as ugly as Kujaku was, but it was close, "So, tell me, are those pathetic pokémon your last line of defence against me or do you have something more fun in mind, Norman?"

Idiot growled when she said that, but really I couldn't see what was going on; I was still pinned by the mutt and the delicate thing. For some odd reason said twiggy reminded me of Ralts, but right then I wasn't really thinking too deeply into that. I was having too much trouble breathing.

However, out of the corner of my eye I saw Crescent crawl out from underneath Mudkip and smirk before he slammed his paw on a big red button up on the keyboards. That was when a really loud alarm (similar to the one in that other Rocket Base) began to sound, red lights flashing on and off in the hallway outside. And then, a human female's voice came out of no where, and although it confused me to no end I knew I had to take it seriously, "**Rustboro Rocket Base; Self-Destruct Sequence activated. All staff please abort base. Detonation will begin in five minutes.**"

That was pretty much the cue to run for our lives. I saw that damned Kujaku woman running out ahead of me while returning the ghost thing to its pokéball, Idiot doing the same to Vigoroth and to the delicate thing (which was odd, when did he catch that?), Greg also returning Mudkip and Swellow before I found myself in Greg's arms. Idiot was currently carrying the unconscious mutt while the human in the white lab coat and Crescent began to lead the way out of the base. I just had the feeling that this was going to be one hell of a race against time.

And, sadly enough, I was right. Again. It's really bothersome to be right all the time, don't you think?

Crescent had turned the wrong way at least three times before we heard a similar warning to the first one over the blare of the sirens, but of course there was one thing different; instead of five minutes we only had one left. Finally, I heard the Vaporeon in disguise shouting at us using his psychic powers, "_Anti just told me, we're going the right way! We should make it!_"

Naturally, that jinxed it as I found when a rather thick steel beam fell right in front of us. The humans yelped rather loudly and both the mutt and myself were dropped to the floor. In their panic the humans ran ahead of Crescent, the mutt and I, which of course made me sigh. Of course, most humans were probably more selfish than I was. Crescent stared at both the mutt and I before sighing, "Come on, help me carry him. I can't do it on my own and I can't risk using my psychic powers now that we're in close range of the rockets."

"Do I have to? That mutt nearly fried me in Idiot's gym!"

"He's also helped in saving your trainer's life by making sure that bitch Kujaku didn't-"

"**Detonation in twenty seconds.**"

"We don't have time for this, just help me carry him!" It was too bad that our argument was cut short, but I think I'd rather stop arguing with the bloody psychic than get my head blown off by people and pokémon I hated even more than the mutt. So, with a sigh I reluctantly began to help Crescent carry him. This was a lot harder than it sounded, seeing as Houndour was heavy and we were racing against the clock.

In fact, we were just barely at the door when I heard very very very loud banging noises behind us. And the burning sensation against my back was none too pleasant either, something everyone seemed to notice when I started screaming bloody murder for them. That was definitely going to hurt in the morning...

But, there was good news. Something that seemed to numb my pain a little. And that was seeing, behind the body of another human in a white lab coat, Alexa peacefully sleeping on the ground without the device on her head. They were right; she was perfectly okay now, so really... Our mission was a success.

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**Reiko's POV**

I had to wonder who half the people were that were running out of the base and right towards me, but it seemed like the floating grey cat pokémon knew exactly who they were. And since it wasn't trying to distract them (as far as I could tell), it probably meant that these guys weren't going to try and kill us. A Treecko seemed to have gotten a little burned in the explosion though, something that made me wince when I finally stopped covering my ears. I had to give Team Rocket credit for one thing; when things go wrong, they _really_ go out with a bang. A big one.

The sun was setting over a distant ocean while we all introduced ourselves; the kid with silver hair was Greg, the old (I guess 'older', but compared to me he seemed like a geezer) guy with the near-bowl cut was Norman, and apparently the floating Mew was friends with a Vaporeon that could use psychic powers. The Houndour was previously a rocket pokémon but changed sides and the Treecko belonged to the kid I had hauled out of there, a girl named Alexa. Who was also bowl-cut's daughter, though the family resemblance wasn't really there. From what I could tell anyway.

Regardless, my attention finally turned onto who was important; I probably stared into Kazu's eyes for a full minute before I bit my lower lip, "You idiot. Your timing was too damned good!" That seemed to earn a confused look from him but I didn't care; What I did care about was the fact that I had flung my arms around him and actually began to cry into his shoulder. Damn him, putting me through all that only to save me at the last possible moment! Why did he have to do so much for me?

"Shh, Reiko, it's okay. We're out now, and we're safe. That's all that matters," Finally, he didn't say or do something stupid. I felt him petting my hair while I just sat there and cried; Everything was spilling out then. All of the shit with the second clone, all of this shit now, and to think that it was finally over... I owed so many people - and pokémon - so much, including my life in quite a few cases. I took a couple of deep breaths and managed to regain control before looking back up at Kazu's tired but smiling face, "There. That wasn't so hard, was it? And here I thought you had actually grown testicles of your own."

"Bite me," I stuck my tongue out at Kazu only to earn a laugh, right before turning to the ignored parties; Norman and Greg seemed to be tending to the Treecko and the unconscious Houndour, leaving Kazu and I to stare at the Vaporeon and the floating grey and partially see-through Mew. The latter of the two sighed and looked to the former before he spoke using psychic powers again.

"_They might as well know. I kinda blew it anyway, sending a hoard of rockets after our good friend Reiko and the kid by accident. Besides, they hate Team Rocket as much as we do. Who are they going to tell?_"

The Vaporeon frowned and looked back up to the floating cat pokémon; they were probably having a private conversation now because that was pretty much the last we heard of the dialogue before the Vaporeon looked at us, "_Okay, I'm only telling you because I know I can trust you with our secret. However, you'd better not tell anyone or you're Gyarados food._"

Kazu and I weren't the only ones paying attention as, with the sun's light finally fading away, the Vaporeon glowed white and changed shape; now there were two floating cat pokémon in front of us, and now that I got a chance to compare it seemed like the one that led me out of the base was more of a ghost where was the one that just got out of disguise was the real deal. Later Kazu and I would probably freak out at each other about actually meeting these legendary pokémon, but that most definitely wasn't the time for it.

"_Yeah, that's right. I'm Mew, and by special request I've helped you out of your little jam. Now... If you're gonna talk about me, please refer to me as Crescent and the moron over there as Anti?_" I saw the pink one jerk its thumb at the grey one when it said that, something that made me snicker when the grey one put its hands on its hips.

"_Team Rocket can't know about us. Kazu and Reiko already know why, but as for you two,_" Now the pink one was pointing a paw at Greg and Norman, "_Don't trust anyone else with information about us. Except the kid; if you explain how important it is that she doesn't blab, she can know since she does owe us big time._"

"_Hate to cut you short, but shouldn't you call Flame and the others now? I think they'll be wondering just how well we did in kicking Rocket butt over here._"

"_Yeah yeah yeah, I'll do that now. Excuse me for a few minutes,_" I saw the pink and the grey Mews fly behind a nearby rock and made a few noises. It almost sounded like they had taken out a cell phone, something Kazu had pointed out to me, and that Greg had pointed out for Norman. I could only nod in agreement before we spotted the two pokémon coming back, "_I still don't get why they didn't pick up..._"

"_You picked an annoying ring tone. Not that I would have picked any differently, I just know from experience,_" The grey one seemed to be acting the part of a smart ass against the pink one, who was obviously not in the mood for an argument, "_But still, I think we should get back over there. Knowing Fervo and Flame, it'll be a miracle if the island is still standing when we see them all again._"

"_Fine, you fly ahead. I'll catch up in a second, just let me wrap some things up,_" Then the grey one flew off, leaving the pink Mew with us as it approached Kazu and I, "_You two, thanks a bunch for helping Eve. You know how important it is for Team Rocket not to know that I was here, but they're still going to go after you. Good choice in picking the Hoenn Region as a hiding spot, but a bit of advice for you two; Stay away from the machines for a while, if you know what I mean. If I get a chance to, I'll look you up. But for all of you, I'm gone. Tell Jack he's a Slowpoke for me!_"

I heard the Treecko speak in retaliation to the comment, causing the pink Mew to chuckle before it began to fly off after the grey one. I guessed that meant that the Treecko's nickname was Jack, not that it was important but I felt like making the mental note. Kazu helped me to stand up then, grinning at me widely before ruffling my hair, "Let's go for that dinner now shall we? Maybe we should find a nice house somewhere; Fallarbor Town, Verdanturf Town, or maybe Fortree City..."

"That last one sounds nice. As soon as we eat, let's go there. Who knows, we might get a chance to live in peace for a while."

"I _never_ thought I'd hear you say that," Kazu and I both laughed as we waved farewell to the others. That was one hell of an adventure, not to mention that it was probably one of the ones I would _never_ forget. But... Everything worked out, so in a way it was a good end to the day. I just hoped it would be that way for everyone else.

'Cept for Kujaku. She deserved whatever hell she'd get from Giovanni, and the thoughts of what would happen were definitely warm and fuzzy ones for me as Kazu finally managed to treat me to that dinner he promised me.

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**Jack's POV**

It was morning when we finally managed to reach the Pokémon Center again, though I couldn't tell until I was let out of my pokéball again; Greg had returned me to my pokéball so that he wouldn't have to worry about carrying both me and Houndour. I let out a low yawn before I was grabbed from behind and held in the air. In fact I almost attacked before I heard a voice I had been aching to hear for quite a while, surprisingly enough, "Hey, Jack! It's good to see you again!"

Someone had woken up. I tried to put on my best smile as Alexa turned me to face her, and really none of the malice Team Rocket had given her through that bloody contraption had stuck around; she looked happy, energetic, and thoroughly unaffected by her experience. She probably didn't remember a thing, which after a second I decided was probably for the best. I allowed the kid to suffocate me for a bit longer before she put me down, "Guess what! Greg found a wild Houndour and is going to let me catch it!"

I had to work with the bloody mutt _permanently_ now? Wonderful. However, what I noticed was that Houndour was looking even more depressed than usual. And that, naturally, was a bad thing. I sighed before I saw Greg approaching Alexa, taking her over to Idiot. They were probably going to chat about the events, which probably meant she wouldn't be happy for too much longer. Ah well, for the time being it wasn't my problem.

I walked over to the mutt and sighed, trying to dig something out of my ear before I finally asked, "What the bloody hell is eating you now? We've gotten the kid out of there, there's nothing for you to be sorry for anymore is there?"

Silence. That was all I got... Well, that and Houndour turning his back to me. This annoyed me, but when I was about to give him a piece of my mind I saw a drop of water hitting the floor. Was the damn mutt crying? _Bloody hell..._

With a sigh I sat down beside him, and while trying not to puke I finally managed to work up enough compassion to ask him, "Did something happen when you were ordered out of the room by Crescent back in the base?"

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Finally, **Chapter 18: Sky Rocketing** has been brought to you! I know, it took far too long, and I have several things going on that just made it almost impossible to work on; a whole bunch of stuff on different websites, school work, and on top of it all I had this terrible cold. But, despite all of that I finally managed to bring this chapter to you, and although there is a bit of a cliff-hanger it's not _that_ bad, right? Regardless, thanks for sticking with me (as well as being unbelievably patient with my updating and the periods in between) and I'll see you next chapter! I'd promise you guys a sooner update but... Well, whenever I go and do that, shit happens. So I won't and we'll see what happens from there. Until next time!


	19. Heavy Burden

I know you're probably tired of reading these author's notes. But trust me; this one is going to be short, mainly because there isn't much to be said. If you haven't done so, read **Anomaly** and **Tales of Flame** already! Want to know why? There have been character references (and even appearances as you have already seen) made that lead back to those two inter-related fan fictions. Not to mention that they are damned good! If searching up the titles doesn't work, look for the authors **Dark Magician Girl Aeris** and **Buwaro**. The writing these two are capable of is more than worth the effort. And now, without anymore stalling, onto **Chapter 19: Heavy Burden**!

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**Houndour's POV **

"Did something happen when you were ordered out of the room by Crescent back in the base?"

It was shocking, to hear that the Treecko cared so much about me that he would ask me that question. His face might not have said it, but he knew that there was something wrong. And, it was comforting to feel that he at least asked, even if he didn't really care.

But... I didn't want to think about what had happened. About what I hadn't done to prevent Mudkip and the pokémon I knew was formerly Ralts from getting even more hurt. It was a painful memory, something I would rather not trouble anyone else with. It was my burden and mine alone, "I would rather not-"

"I'm going then," I blinked in confusion when Jack got up and left suddenly like that, but then again I really shouldn't have been that surprised; He didn't like me from the moment I started to travel with him because of our first encounter. I couldn't blame him, seeing as former Master had ordered me to kill him. But... That was merely the tip of the guilt I felt consuming me.

I couldn't help but remember, as I lied down where I was, what had happened in the Rustboro Base. I had just... I couldn't do anything. And because of that...

_"**You should have crawled back to Master while you had the chance, pup,**" The ghost pokémon Misdreavus cackled at me after those cruel words were spoken, a ball of shadows being formed in front of her at that time. She looked upon me with contempt before her gaze shifted back to master, "**Master, can I finish the intruders now? They seem to have been a thorn in your side for too long... Allow me to remove this awful thorn.**" _

_Former master looked towards Misdreavus only briefly before she looked upon Mudkip, the pokémon I knew was Ralts and myself with a sadistic smirk, "**I'm going to enjoy hurting you, you traitorous dog. You are going to regret the day you ran away from me in Dewford Base, one painful minute at a time before I eventually kill you. Misdreavus, use Shadow Ball on them now.**" _

_I couldn't stand to look anymore when Misdreavus made the energy even larger, and with my ears flattened against my head I clamped my eyes shut and turned away. However, what I wasn't expecting was exactly what happened; Rather than feeling the impact of the attack, I heard a cry of pain through my covered ears. _

_The moment I opened my eyes I saw Mudkip collapsed in front of me; it seemed like she had taken the blow from the Shadow Ball instead of me while I just stood there and waited to be attacked. I couldn't believe it; she had risked herself for me, a mere stranger in her life? And here I was, still holding the psychic pokémon on my back while I stared at Mudkip's now unconscious form. She was brave where I was nothing more than a coward... _

_"**You have to have little water pokémon standing up for you now, pup?**" Misdreavus cackled as former Master stared at me, then at Mudkip, then at me again. However, it wasn't former Master I heard talking but Misdreavus again, "**You really are pathetic! Beating you will be a piece of cake!**" _

_I had heard that phrase before, humans around me having often used it when they thought an opponent was weak. And, what's exactly what I was; weak and cowardly, not even able to stand up to those who used to fight by my side. It was still so hard, even after having seen Mudkip collapse in front of me. These were the pokémon and the human who practically raised me; to turn on them so suddenly, it simply didn't feel right, even if I knew that their intentions were far from good... _

_My thoughts were lost when I felt an overwhelming force surrounding me, howls of pain echoing through my ears as I was blasted backward, watching Ralts' new body falling helplessly onto the ground in front of me. Everything was becoming dark; I was going to fall into a state of unconsciousness soon. The last words that I heard before everything actually did black out was Master talking about how we were weak and not even worth capturing... Or in my case, taking back even to torture and kill for my insolence. _

"Wakey wakey!" I nearly jumped as the voice snapped me out of my thoughts, a firm-yet-gentle grip being taken on my ears causing me to react further. But, I relaxed when I saw the familiar face of a human, the human girl we had worked so hard to free in fact; she was smiling weakly at me, as if she felt sadness for me. Despite how I didn't deserve such sympathy, "I heard about all you've done for me, and I just wanted to say thanks. What're you gonna do now though...?"

I could only stare at the girl when she asked the question; was she honestly expecting an answer? Truthfully, I didn't even know. And if I did, how could I expect her to understand? It seemed that humans lacked the ability to understand what a pokémon said after all. But, I was saved the trouble of pondering when the girl reached out and began to pet me again, "Don't worry about it. Dad wants us to rest a day or two here, before we decide anything. So just relax, okay?"

"Maybe you should be brainwashed more often," I shot a glare at the human boy who walked up while the girl merely blinked at him, which of course gave the boy incentive to continue, "You seem a lot nicer after that. Being grateful is a good look for you."

"You should try it too. It might stop you from looking so stupid all the time," The human girl stood up with a bit of a smirk on her face, and of course after that they seemed to get into an argument. I watched with only a slight smile tugging at my lips; I still felt guilty over all that happened, and like it or not there was most definitely someone who deserved my gratitude.

And, with a quick look around the building I spotted the pokémon I had in mind.

I quickly trotted forward and immediately got the pokémon's attention while I did so. I supposed that should have made things easier, but that really couldn't stop the large lump in my throat from welling up, "Mudkip... I'm so sorry for what happened..."

"Stop," I blinked, a bit stunned when Mudkip sighed and smiled at me. What was she smiling about now? "You froze up because those pokémon and that human were like family to you, right? It'd be hard for anyone to just fight against those who were close to them. I don't think anyone blames you for that."

"But... You got hurt-"

"Because I was stupid and jumped in the way when I should have pulled you out," Mudkip's face seemed to redden slightly before she shook it off, "Look, forget about it. Let's just move on; I think Greg and Alexa are going to stop arguing soon. Have you thought about what you're going to do once we've rested up?"

"I... I don't know," Immediately my eyes were facing the tiles below, thoughts of the future now plaguing me. Would I go back to find Sister, to try and get her away from the human that was formerly Master? Would I leave and live my life peacefully in the wild? Or, I could possibly travel with this group, with the hope that I could live happy and help in any way I could. But... "This is a decision for another day; we still have time to rest."

"Right. There's a room down the hall we're allowed to go to, that's where Greg and Alexa are staying..."

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**Jack's POV **

There was a lot of activity going on around me, not much of it that I considered to be truly interesting but a lot of it nonetheless. Greg and Alexa had gotten into an argument, something that made me smirk and shake my head. Idiot was talking to one of the nurses, something that was probably considered normal. The mutt and Mudkip were going back towards the rooms we were staying in, also normal. What wasn't normal, however...

Was the fact that not one of these groups seemed to notice that a sadistic Kirlia was making sure I stuck to the roof like I was glued there.

"Oiy! Put me down you bloody psychic! I'm not a bouncing pokéball for Mew's sake!" Again I was falling towards the ground, and somehow I knew this was going to hurt; it hurt the last fifty or so times Kirlia had let me drop, so what reason was there for it to stop hurting now?

"_Apologize for calling me girly!_" I winced at the telepathic voice booming around me (and I swear I heard some other pokémon's giggling somewhere, why weren't they helping me already?) before I ended up smacking into the ground again. That had hurt... That was stating the obvious, but that didn't stop the stinging sensation on my belly and nose from getting to me, "_I'm **not** girly! I've evolved you insensitive twit!_"

"You sure are acting like a girl, being all moody and such. You didn't even mind when I kissed you, and that says something..."

I was pounded into the ground again (I probably deserved it that time but that wouldn't stop me from complaining) but this time someone finally seemed to have noticed that the psychotic one was kicking the crap out of me before I was lifted into the air, "Kirlia! Take it easy, we just had a rough battle!" Alexa was sticking up for me. I _knew_ there was a good reason for getting her out of that base. She was at least good for preventing Ralts... Err, Kirlia, I still had to get used to that... Anyway, she was good for making sure Kirlia didn't kill me. When she was around and not arguing with Greg anyway.

"_This isn't over,_" I winced when Kirlia glared at me then, but a bit of relief washed over me when I saw Alexa returning Kirlia to his pokéball. Someone was a little bit too touchy about gender issues, but then that's what made Kirlia so much fun to tease. Granted I did get hurt a lot whenever I decided to tease him, but it was still a lot of fun.

"You should really be more careful. I think Kirlia might not like you if you keep insulting him, Jack," Great, I was getting a lecture now. Insert sigh here. I started zoning out until she finally said something that caught my interest again, "Now come on, let's go get some food! I haven't had breakfast yet, and I'm guessing you haven't either."

"Now you're speaking my language," I grinned as I was carried over to the table and placed onto the floor. However, what I found in front of me didn't exactly seem appetizing; what looked like little brown blocks were placed in a bowl in front of me, but then I remembered that I had eaten them before; they tasted fairly decent, they weren't enough to make me choke anyway. Food was food, and with that thought I shrugged and began to eat heartily.

Soon enough the bowl was empty, the contents now swishing around in my stomach as I sat back and sighed, "I needed that..."

"It looks like Jack enjoyed the food," Alexa grinned down at me while talking to Idiot and Greg. I shrugged in response and got to my feet, planning to go back to the room. No one made any motion to stop me so I guessed I was allowed. I saw Mudkip and Houndour sleeping on one of the beds, immediately turning towards the other one after.

You honestly didn't expect me to sleep on the same bed as the mutt, did you? Really, I thought you readers were smarter than that.

As soon as I hit the comfortable sleeping spot I was, in fact, sleeping. I think I might have dreamed something or another about 'thank you' or whatever, but really I wasn't paying attention. I think I'd rather just take the well-deserved nap rather than dream, so that's exactly what I did. End of story. You can leave me alone now.

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**Kujaku's POV **

It had been so close. My promotion was in reach, I could have tasted it. And, the damned girl's friends and pokémon had come to save her. They freed that traitor Reiko, made sure Kazu deactivated the device and, to top it all off, blew up Rustboro base! Not to mention they couldn't catch the damn _Mew_ that had appeared, the pokémon I _knew_ Giovanni wanted above all others! It had already been a long day, re-organizing the grunts and trying to make sure that they'd make it to Mossdeep Port to re-group, but before I went on my way I'd have to contact the boss. And, I doubted that this news would be good for him; I'd either get the worst warning and lecture of my life or I'd get the pink slip itself. Either way, it wasn't going to be pretty...

I sighed before using my lap top to contact Rocket Headquarters in Kanto, adjusting my headset to be able to communicate with the other side while talking to the person who answered before being put on hold. Great, I had to wait even longer before- "Report, Kujaku. Today was the day that you were supposed to hand in the reports on the mind control device, so let's hear it already. I don't have all day."

It already sounded like Giovanni was irritated. And the look on his face didn't help either, it looked like he already had some really bad news come to him earlier. So, the only thing I could do was get the report over with...

"I have good and bad news, sir," Hey, that wasn't a complete lie! I did have something which could possibly help him, "The Mind Control device was a complete success and the plans were in the midst of being transferred over to the base in Olivine City."

"And the bad news?"

"... The test subject escaped, sir. Several pokémon broke into the base, deactivated the device and destroyed the base before the transfer could be complete. Only the prototype was successfully transferred to Olivine City before the base's destruction-"

"Not another one!" That was probably the first time I heard the boss actually shouting, and on the other end of the video phone he got to his feet while glaring at me, "First several of my agents and their pokémon get seriously injured on a mission to retrieve the clones and the first clone destroys the base near the Sevii Islands! Now, you're telling me that things have gone south in Hoenn as well? I should fire you for your incompetence, Kujaku!"

"It's not my fault, sir!" I started feeling desperate when I saw just how furious Giovanni was; at this rate he really _was_ going to fire me! There was no way though, I valued my job far too much for him to just give me the boot! "They had the help of the legendary pokémon you've been pursuing so much! The Hoenn bases are the only ones you didn't prepare to face Mew!"

"Mew? _Mew_ appeared in Hoenn?" The boss was staring at me now, and silently I gave him a nod in response to his question. He continued to stare at me, something that I found to be rather unnerving, before he simply sighed and sat back down in his seat, a hand being clapped to his forehead in frustration, "That damned pink cat was probably responsible for what happened at Dewford Base as well. Have you at least made sure that the grunts are re-grouping at Mossdeep City?"

"Yes sir!" I saluted to him, though I stopped immediately after receiving a look from him. You know, the kind of look you only get when someone is really really pissed with the world. I nodded to him now, "No grunts were hurt but the traitors managed to escape as well. I have no information as to their current whereabouts."

"You are lucky that it was someone else's foolish mistake not to arm Hoenn in the case of Mew's appearance, Kujaku. That is the _only_ reason why you still have your job," The steely glare Giovanni gave me made me shiver a bit, but I managed to keep myself together as he continued, "You're teetering on the edge, Kujaku. One more slip up and you lose your job. The executive I've placed in charge-"

"What are you-"

"Do _not_ interrupt me again if you value your job, Kujaku," Man was the boss ever pissed, that much could be said through his tone alone let alone his words, "As I was saying, the executive I've placed in charge of operations in Mossdeep City will inform you when I've assigned you with a new task. Before then, the Rockets will be supplied with weapons especially formed to fight against psychic pokémon for the case that Mew shows up again to try and thwart my plans," He paused thoughtfully before smirking, "Your next assignment will be your one chance to get back in my good graces. Understood?"

"Sir!" I saluted once more before the screen went blank, a sigh leaving me before I packed up the lap top and headset. What a day... Well, at least I was fond of the executive, and he of me. Otherwise, things wouldn't work out at all. I still had a chance of getting myself back into the boss's good graces, and maybe even becoming an executive myself in the future. But, it would take a hell of a lot of work. And it was all because of those kids, that gym leader and those meddling pokémon! I was definitely going to work my ass off to regain my dignity, no question. But, that didn't mean that revenge wasn't high on the priorities list...

_I'll find you, brats. And you'll pay for what you've done to me and my career! _

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Oooh, ominous ending! I thought it'd be fun to look into the mind of a villain, though granted I didn't go as deeply into Kujaku as I wanted to. Regardless, we see a bit of how her mind works, more of her characteristics, and reasons why she is a half-decent villain. I know, it took me too long to update again, and I blame the emo phase Houndour's going through. Honestly, I hate writing that shit when I'm not in the mood for it. Also, the Document Manager has been really really stupid about letting me upload this chapter, but as you can clearly see I found a way around it. I won't keep you though; thanks for reading and for being so patient with me! I'll see you all next time!


	20. Fresh Start

Again, I am sorry that this chapter took so long. Maybe I should just apologize for this and all future chapters now, just because the gaps are so long. If you want me to blame something, I blame my re-addiction to a fandom and my severe writer's block. If you don't want me to blame anything, I can't apologize enough. Seriously. And, without further interruption, I bring you **Chapter 20: Fresh Start**!

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**Jack's POV**

Man, was I tired. Why was I waking up now? It wasn't even sun up, something that made me groan. Someone was yelling outside of the door. And, what was worse was that Mudkip, Greg and the mutt were still fast asleep. Apparently they weren't hearing the bloody humans arguing, curse them. They were going to get a better sleep than I was...

But, now that I was awake, I was also curious. I'd probably give the humans a piece of my mind as soon as I got out there. It was easier than I thought it would be too, seeing as Alexa seemed to have left the door open (she wasn't in the bed so I knew it was her who had opened it). As soon as I left the room however, even while rubbing one of my eyes I could see that Idiot was arguing with Alexa. Greeeeat.

"Alexa, I seriously don't think that you should keep going so soon after that experience! What if Team Rocket comes along and targets you again?"

"Dad, take a chill pill! I can take care of myself!"

"Like you did at the gym? I'm worried about you, Lexi..."

"Well stop being worried! I'm not going to get into trouble like that again!"

_Famous last words,_ I thought with a smirk as I shook my head, closing my eyes so I could only hear Idiot's aggravated sigh before a clapping sound was made. He had probably smacked his own forehead before he started talking again, "Lexi, you _always_ get into trouble. I guess it's because you're becoming a teenager now..."

"If I'm becoming a teenager then stop treating me like a kid," I opened my eyes in time to see Alexa pouting childishly at Idiot, something that made me snicker. Come on, it's kind of contradictory isn't it, to pout like a child to prove that you're more mature than that? "I'm not going back home. I'm going to continue trying to become a trainer. And the first thing I'm going to do tomorrow is catch that Houndour."

"What if Houndour doesn't want to stay?" I was getting bored with the conversation at this point, especially since it seemed to have quieted down. I almost wanted to go back the sleep, but the feeling in my stomach was telling me that I'd need a midnight snack first. So, where else would I go but the kitchen of the Pokémon Center?

That said, I went in. And found one of those big metal things Trunk called a 'refrigerator'. Unfortunately, even if the damn handle was in reach, that door was too heavy for me to open. _Hmm... What can I do to get that food?_

I blinked and saw something on the counter. After jumping up onto it I saw that it was this big round thing with a handle on the end. I could probably use the thing to open the fridge. So, what else was I to do but try and tug it off?

Big mistake.

Not only did I fall with the big round end landing on top of me (and trust me that alone hurt like a bitch) but lots of loud clattering was all around me as I saw more similar objects with handles falling around me, one with a really deep hole falling on top of my head. And now there was ringing in my ears, a groan leaving me. It was dark now. And then, I heard footsteps rushing towards me, the familiar voice of Nurse Joy gasping, "Is that a pokémon? Hey, what are you doing in here?"

"I'm trying to get a bloody midnight snack," I had no idea where the human's voice was coming from but I shouted out anyway. Soon enough the big round thing on my head was removed and light flooded into my eyes. More light than there was before. Someone must have hit the light switch on the way in, and when I blinked I saw the blurry images of the nurse and her assistant Chansey in front of me. And then, the nurse reached over and picked me up. My head still throbbed and hurt but this was enough to get my attention, "Oiy! Put me down so I can get some food already!"

"Take it easy... What were you doing in here?" Right, humans couldn't understand pokéspeak for the life of them. Which of course was very very annoying... But, my stomach growled then. If nothing else it helped the human understand what I wanted, "Oh, you're hungry. Next time, just find me or Chansey and we'll get something for you okay?"

Finally, I was getting some bloody food. With a big grin I saw the dish of pokémon food being put in front of me and jumped into it, devouring it within seconds. Satisfied, I let out a bit of a belch which caused both the nurse and the other pokémon to giggle, "I take it that was good?"

"Good enough for a midnight snack, but I'm gonna go to bed now..." I stretched my arms over my head then, hopping off of the counter and waving to Nurse Joy and Chansey. I heard them cleaning up the kitchen but really I didn't care about that; I just wanted to go back to sleep now.

"There you are! Don't scare me like that Jack!" Suddenly I was picked up by Alexa, blinking up at her, "When I went back into the room I saw that you were gone. Did Dad and I wake you up?"

"Yeah, but I got free food out of it," I shrugged and got myself comfortable in Alexa's arms. At least I wasn't getting yelled at for the mess in the kitchen... I really wasn't in the mood for another lecture and I was too tired to hear it anyway. Soon after I got withdrawn into my pokéball, which was probably to keep me from wandering around again. Just as well, I was too tired to really give a damn about wandering around the Pokémon Center again...

"_I see you managed to get yourself out of trouble. I'm glad things went well in at least one area of the world,_" Damn it all, Jirachi had come to visit me. I was far more than too irritable and tired to deal with yet another annoyance...

"Go to hell. I'm trying to sleep."

"_Fine, I will. By the way, your cousin is doing fine and is back in the Kanto Region with his trainer, where he belongs._"

"Yeah yeah yeah, interesting news, but I'm still trying to sleep off the bloody day," I grumbled before snapping my eyes shut and rolling over. Maybe if I pretended she wasn't there anymore she'd go away...

"_That won't work and you know it, Jack,_" It pissed me off even more when she laughed at me, but finally she said something that made me grin a bit, "_I'll see what I can do about you getting to see him in the future, but for now just relax and enjoy yourself again. Good night._"

With those two heavenly words the star pokémon finally left, leaving me to sleep in peace. At long last, a restful night without anymore dreams and interruptions...

You can go now. It's not going to get any more interesting here, for a few hours anyway.

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**Kirlia's POV**

Daylight, at long last, shone around me as I was let out of my pokéball. It seemed like I was the only one allowed out for the moment though; that bastardous Treecko wasn't anywhere to be seen and I couldn't spot Mudkip either. She was a little irritating, acting perfect and all, but she wasn't too bad for the most part... It was really Jack who bothered me most of the time. But I'm sure you all know that and about my plans to eventually kill him slowly and painfully, right?

Moving along, I spotted my trainer and smiled when she reached down to pat my head. It was good to see her again, although she didn't seem as big as she used to be. I guess it was because I evolved and got bigger myself. But, what was important was that my trainer had said something about breakfast. And then, I spotted the rather full dish in front of me and realized just how hungry I was. Throwing around an idiot grass lizard with your telepathic powers can do that, you know.

Soon after I finished the plate, letting out a rather satisfying belch after. It tasted too good!

"Hey, Kirlia! We're going to battle Houndour, come on!" Houndour. That made me freeze in my tracks. He was the pokémon... Him and his sister... They had...

"Kirlia? What's the matter?" I nearly jumped when Alexa kneeled in front of me, my face growing hot before I shook it off. I couldn't change what had happened. But, I still wanted to get revenge... At the same time I knew I was targeting the wrong pokémon. Houndour did it because he was forced to; it was probably at the threat of his own life. I could understand it on some level but... I still couldn't forgive him for it.

I floated after Alexa and when we finally got outside, I saw that Houndour was sitting there as if he had been waiting for us. And, unfortunately enough, Jack was waiting beside Greg on this weird wooden seat thing... What was it? I didn't know, but really I didn't care at the moment. What I did care about was the order that I heard from the human girl beside me, "Kirlia, leave Jack alone for now okay? I'm going to use him to battle against Houndour."

_I'll get you yet_, the venomous thought drifted through my mind as I glared at the lizard pokémon, but he blatantly ignored me as he hopped down. I decided to take his place and floated up onto the bench, slowly releasing my telekinetic hold on myself so I could rest on the wood. Greg stared at me for a second but seemed to think nothing of it and turned back to the imminent battle in front of us. I focused on the two pokémon too, not entirely sure of just who I wanted to lose more. I decided to root for Houndour in the end, seeing as he didn't insult me on a regular basis.

My resolution was only fuelled more when Jack turned to me and smirked, "Oiy, hope that you're ready for the bloody mutt to travel with us as well, Girlia!"

Whether or not he had said that by accident, _he would pay_! I was about to begin pulverizing him when Greg put a hand on my head. I blinked and glared at him before I could hear Alexa speaking again, "Kirlia, I don't know what he said but chill out! You can train with him later, all right?"

Satisfied with the notion that I would actually be able to beat on the idiot later with no one to restrain me (not to mention the brief look of fear in his eyes at the notion of Alexa actually allowing it), I sat back down and just simply relaxed, feeling Greg taking his hand off of my head. I'd beat on him too, but he didn't have the balls to call me stupid names after the first time he made that mistake. Heh.

I was brought back to the field when Alexa nodded to Houndour, "Don't go easy on us! We're ready this time! Go, Jack!" With that, I knew that there would be an interesting battle before us.

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Woo hoo, the first update I've had in two months! I hope you enjoyed that chapter, short as it is, and I promise you that I WILL be better about updating! You can count on it! For now, I have to go, so keep reading and you should see chapter 21 coming soon!


	21. Looking Ahead

Hey guys, I know it's been a long time since the last update. I know this is two weeks later than I said it would be. To be brief, work has kept me busy and too tired to really do much about it (or even have enough time to), but I'm going to try to be better about updating in the future. So yeah. Thank you readers for being so loyal and dedicated to reading **Hoenn Chronicles**, even after that hiatus! On with **Chapter 21: Looking Ahead**

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**Jack's POV**

I think you all could tell that I wasn't looking forward to this. If I beat the bloody mutt, then that psychotic psychic would be allowed to have his way with me. And - let's face it - I didn't exactly want to be covered in burns if I lost to Houndour, either. It was almost better when Alexa was still under mind control...

Hey, that wasn't such a bad idea.

"Go, Jack! Use pound!"

Oh, right, I was supposed to battle. Sigh. And, unfortunately enough, Houndour tackled me before I could even start to move. Did I mention how much that hurt when the pokémon's head wears a skull on the outside? Not the sort of thing you want ramming head-first into your gut.

And, wouldn't you know it, the mutt decided to try torching me as well. I'm just lucky that I wasn't drunk this time so that I'd actually be fast enough to dodge it. It was a little closer than I would have liked though, considering that I felt the heat of Houndour's flamethrower against my back even if the flames didn't touch me. Trust me when I say the heat alone was enough to be painful. I had to admit one thing though; the mutt had been trained well under the team rocket bitch.

_Time to try the technique I didn't get to use on him last time_.

I took in a deep breath then, seeing Houndour trying to run around me. Hah, I wasn't drunk this time. The little bastard wouldn't get me _that_ easily! I waited for him to get in front of me before finally firing the bullet seed, but there was something that was more than a bloody pain in the ass about Houndour; the attack went right through him before more and more appeared.

The little bastard had used double team on me. And, much to my dismay, I didn't have any way of getting rid of it. It meant that... I was saved!

I was saved from a fate worse than death; Salvation awaited if Houndour made me faint! That way, I wouldn't have to get beaten up to within an inch of my life by that bloody Girlia! ... Did I say Girlia? I meant Kirlia. Really. I did. What, you don't believe me? Fine, you're right, I meant Girlia. The pokémon is in a skirt, for Mew's sake!

What, I'm getting off track? It's not my fault Houndour hasn't-

_**WHAM**_. Oops, I guess I spoke too soon. I saw that the circle of mutts was still around me though, meaning that he had gone back to his bloody double team attack. I got hit again though, something that confused the crap out of me when I saw nothing behind me. There was no way he could have gotten a chance to go back to his circle...

Not to mention his bloody attack was really beginning to hurt me. These attacks didn't do as much damage as the flames but I was really starting to feel it, you know?

And yet, somehow, I completely forgot about the attack that could have ended this a _long_ time ago. My cousin taught it to me before Trunk caught me, he's better at it than me but if I could do it just right...

At this point I was numbing out Alexa's yelling, mainly because she was absolutely no help at all. The damned mutt was still hitting me, giving me one hell of a head ache. Finally, he stopped attacking me (and stayed in one spot, he finally stopped using that illusion attack as well) to stare at me, frowning a little before he spoke, "Please fight back. I would feel terrible if I won when you haven't even made the effort to fight."

Why that insulting son of an Arcanine! "What do you think I've been doing this entire time, you damned mutt?" Finally, I had the chance to take a blade of grass from the field around us. This guy just made the mistake of pissing me off, ladies and gentlemen. It's a rare sight, I know. It's probably not going to happen again but you never know.

Right, right. Anyway, I took the blade of grass to my lips and began to blow. And, thankfully enough, it worked; rather than a shrill sound like a human would make when doing the same thing, a sweet melody left and began to fill the air. And, within a few seconds, Houndour had fallen asleep. Seemed like Greg and Girlia did too... Did I go and call him Girlia again? Oh, suck it up. I'm allowed to call him that in my own damned head aren't I?

"Go, pokéball!" Oh right, we were still battling. Alexa seemed really sleepy when I looked back to see her throwing the red and white ball at Houndour. Had it really been that effective? Hah. I'd have to take up Jirachi's offer to contact my cousin later just so that I could brag. No one here would appreciate the bragging anyway...

The ball shook once and kept making noises. Twice. Three times. Ding. It was done. Alexa had officially caught the mutt. I finally put down the blade of grass only to hear the human collapsing behind me. Oops, it looked like my Grasswhistle had been a little bit _too_ powerful. Well, when in Kanto...

With that, I found the most comfortable spot I could under the tree closest to Greg and Girlia, sitting against the trunk before drifting off myself. It had been a hard battle, so I needed rest. That and if I was asleep there was almost no chance of Alexa throwing me into Girlia's wrath...

Ha ha ha, very funny, I don't care if I deserve it. I'm still going to avoid it like the plague.

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**Houndour's POV**

When I woke up, I saw a barren wasteland around me; the place where Sister and I grew up. It seemed like, when I had fallen asleep, I had been captured. It looked like, this time, I had lost to the grass type pokémon, Jack. Something in me began to burn... Something, unfortunately, that was all too familiar. It was shame.

I was ashamed that I lost to him; I knew I had a type advantage. I was winning that battle. And yet, somehow - no, not somehow. He used a technique called Grasswhistle, a technique unique to grass type pokémon. Any other who tried would only get a shrill noise. What really surprised me was that he didn't use it sooner, even though he could have... Was he toying with me?

No. He would have made the battle last longer and he wouldn't have gotten caught in my Double Team and Faint Attacks. But, at the same time... Even past all of my shame, I was glad that I lost.

I didn't know why, but things just felt... Brighter. I was no longer working for that horrible organization Team Rocket. Former master... She wasn't my master anymore. Thanks to the efforts of my newly found comrades, the human girl was finally free. And, I was now able - no, required, to serve under her in order to atone for all I had done. That last one didn't sound like freedom to me, but the feeling that I wasn't oppressed... It was almost comforting.

Yes, comforting. The word was something I hadn't used ever since Sister and I were captured by our former master. It was before Sister became dark. Before we began doing horrible things. Before...

I was ejected from my pokéball then. A startled yelp left me when I hit the tiled floor of the Pokémon Center, shaking off the impact before I blinked and looked around. It was night-time now; the sky outside of the windows was really dark. Jack was still sleeping (right beside the unconscious Kirlia, surprisingly. Didn't those two dislike each other?), but the humans seemed wide awake. Alexa smiled at me then, nodding as she crouched down to pet me, "Glad to see that at least one of you is awake. I didn't think Jack could even _use_ Grasswhistle... Or Bullet Seed for that matter. When did he learn those?"

"Probably before you got him, Alexa. He pulled off Bullet Seed while we were trying to save you the first time too," I blinked when the white haired boy... Greg, spoke. Jack's trainer never knew that her pokémon could use those techniques? Was that... My fault?

"Houndour, why're you staring off into space? We're going to start training for a gym leader tomorrow!" I shook my head and looked back up at her, wondering just what she was talking about. A gym leader? I knew what a lot of humans were talking about in most terms (being part of an organization packed to the rim with sadists had to have _some_ advantages), but I didn't recall ever hearing of a 'gym leader.' I would end up figuring it out soon enough, granted, but that event wouldn't happen until the next morning, "Try and get some more rest now, if you can. Greg and I are going to battle so that we can see how ready you are to take on the gym leader, okay?"

Even in my confusion I nodded and began to smile. Finally, I spotted Mudkip, looking out the window nearest to me (how I missed her before, I'll probably never know). I went over to her then, seeing that the humans had lost interest in talking to us. Mudkip just turned to me and smiled when I walked up to her and sat down, finally opening her mouth to say something, "I'm really glad that you're staying with us. I need at least _one_ other intelligent pokémon to talk to."

"What do you mean by that?" I was confused when she said that, causing her to stare at me before she began to laugh. What was so funny? I had to ask, "Did I say something funny?"

"Well... Kirlia isn't exactly safe to talk to anymore, and Jack is... Jack. Other than you getting drunk one time, I really see you as someone I can just talk to casually without worrying about it being turned against me."

"Thank you, I guess," I was still confused but I couldn't help but smile anyway. She smiled even wider then, which of course made my head spin. Why? I didn't know. However, before I could think of anything more a loud yawn left me, my mouth being covered rather suddenly by Mudkip's paw. I almost bit down without thinking but stopped myself; I didn't want to hurt her! I didn't want to hurt any of them anymore, "Hm?"

"We should go to sleep now, Houndour. It's going to be a long day tomorrow if your trainer is going to try and take on a gym leader," I nodded and followed the water pokémon back to the room where Alexa and Greg were lodging for the night; it was funny to see that they were both already asleep, Jack and Kirlia no where in sight. I assumed that they had already returned to their pokéballs, and that meant I would have the opportunity to finally ask Mudkip something.

"Uhm... Exactly what is a Gym Leader anyway?"

Mudkip stared at me for a split second before she answered, "You don't know what a gym leader is? I suppose you really _do _have a lot to learn..."

I really didn't know why I couldn't understand Mudkip, but somehow I had the feeling that her opinion of me just dropped a little bit... That wasn't a good thing, was it?

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Yeah, I know. My Hiatus was longer than expected and the update wasn't that great. I can't apologize enough for it, but really I can't give you an excuse other than writer's block. I'm glad I was able to choke this out though, giving myself something to start from and such. But yeah, thank you readers for staying so loyal and I hope that I'll be able to bring the next update to you all soon!


	22. Teamwork?

**Jack's POV**

Just a tip for you all right now; NEVER use a psychic pokémon as a pillow. No matter how tempting it may be, you'll end up getting telepathically thrown across the room.

"Lighten up already! It was an accident for Mew's sake!" I couldn't help but whine a little when I said that. Seriously, Girlia seemed to like banging my head against walls a lot. Maybe he was just using the pillow thing as an excuse to beat the shit out of me? ... Nah, he's too foul-tempered to be _that_ clever. He's violent, not cruel...

"Next time, you're going straight through that window!"

"It's closed and locked."

"I know," Okay, scratch that. Girlia _is_ cruel, "And stop calling me Girlia!"

"I didn't!"

"You did in your head!"

"Don't read my mind you damned psycho psychic!"

"Stop thinking so loudly then!"

"If you two are done," I blinked and turned to see Mudkip at the door, giving us both an extremely flat look as she continued to speak, "Greg and Alexa are going to start battling each other soon. It might be nice if you two showed up as Alexa only has Houndour right now."

"_This isn't over. I'm gonna make your life a living hell if you do anything like that again,_" I had a feeling that I was the only one who heard Girlia's threat when he turned to leave the room in the Pokémon Center. Oh yeah, that's right, we were supposed to have a practice bout today before going up against the gymleader. Sigh, why did I have the feeling that this simply wasn't going to end well? Because Girlia and the damned mutt would be involved, right... Well, I could always use grasswhistle again to get out of it couldn't I?

And yet, somehow I had the sinking feeling that it wouldn't work this time. But at least I wouldn't have to fight against the prat...

"All right, here's how it's going to work Alexa," Greg was grinning madly by the time I came out, reluctantly standing beside Girlia and the mutt as we heard the other human continue to flap his trap, "We're going to double battle; my Mudkip and Mawile against your Treecko and Kirlia!"

"_WHAT?!_"

Oh,_fuck__no._ I was going to battle as a team _with_ Girlia? Said pokémon turned to me and smiled in a way I can describe with no other words; pure evil. Granted, my fear of him was probably my own doing... Kissing him when we were drunk and always calling him Girlia... But honestly, life's too boring to do anything you don't want to do. I wanted to do that stuff.

What, you can think of something better to do than bug my teammate? Well, I doubt it's more fun.

"It kind of seems like Jack doesn't want to battle," Alexa frowned at me when she said that, and trust me I felt a huge wave of relief going over when she noticed my reaction. However, the smile on her face made the relief leave in favour of fear, "Too bad, Jack, we have to do this if we want to beat Rustboro's gym leader! Let's go, Kirlia and Jack!"

"You too, Mudkip! Go, Masumi!"

Well, so much for my remaining in one piece. Mudkip ran up as Greg threw a pokeball into the air, an all-too familiar white light blinding me. Yeah, I was dumb enough to look at the thing head on, so what? At least I could see again... And what I was seeing had to be one of the strangest pokémon I had ever seen. It had this tiny yellow body and a cute face, sure, but that long black thing connected to it's head... Was it just me, or was that a second mouth?

"Hmm... She's almost as pretty as I am..."

"_I'm not a girl!_" I couldn't help but laugh when the other pokémon commented on Kirlia's appearance, it really just proved my point! Granted, I could feel him glaring at me, but can you honestly blame me for laughing?

... Well, apparently Girlia could, something I found out when I was tossed towards the Mawile before us, "GAH! HEY!"

"Eep!" I heard the other pokémon squeak as I landed ontop of her. With such a big head, I was actually kind of surprised at how dainty she was... Of course, it didn't mean she couldn't pack a punch, "Don't land on me you insolent Treecko!"

"It's not my fault that Kirlia bloody tossed me at you," I grumbled and glared at the thing while rubbing my cheek. Come on, that bloody thing didn't have a reason to hit me! It wasn't my fault she was stupid enough to insult Girlia! Only _I'm_ allowed to be that stupid!

... You heard nothing.

"Boys," Mudkip sighed and just sat down, Greg staring at all of us stupidly for the moment. Alexa... Was also staring, but somehow she just looked less stupid doing it. Maybe it was because that blank, staring-into-space look was the one she wore in the Rocket Bases? Probably.

"D-Don't let that get to you! Kirlia, use Confusion on Mudkip!"

Finally, he'd throw someone else around for a change. Girlia stopped glaring at me and, after giving a nod, used his mind to pick up a now-flailing and protesting Mudkip. It looked kind of funny actually, no wonder he enjoyed doing it so much...

What was even more amusing was that Masumi (the Mawile in case you're completely dim and couldn't tell) lunged forward then and clamped the teeth of her second mouth right across Girlia's middle. I had actually fallen down laughing by this point, but that didn't mean I couldn't hear the psychic's agonized screaming. Later, I would learn that Bite was a 'dark' type attack, which rendered psychics completely powerless, but for now I was too busy being amused by Girlia's current predicament.

"Jack! Bullet Seed on Greg's Mawile now!"

Aww, now I had to do something? Peachy... Well, it was time to bail out Girl-

And, as if by divine retribution, I was bowled over and knocked straight into a tree, knocking me out. The kicker? It wasn't even bloody Girlia throwing me into the tree! But now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go into unbearably painful unconsciousness now.

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**Kirlia's POV**

Ugh. If it wasn't for the fact that I was in positively excructiating pain right about now, I would have torn that Mawile into pieces by now! Though, granted, there was something that made the agony worth it; the sight of that idiot Jack getting bowled over by a blond-haired human boy and hitting a tree. Ten points, blond human. Ten points.

"Wow, you guys are having a double battle? Can I-"

"What the hell do you think you're doing? You just knocked out Jack!" My trainer started to freak out at the newcomer as she ran over to Jack, checking if he was okay before returning him to his pokéball. I honestly didn't know why she bothered, but I guess that blasted Treecko _was_ her first pokémon...

"Yeah buddy, what's the big idea? You interrupted our battle!" Greg was up, and he wasn't too happy about it either. In fact, I think I was the only one showing any sign of relief, and it was only because Masumi had finally stopped using her second mouth to try and tear me in two.

I hate dark type attacks now, by the way. I can't just make them go away with telekinesis... Psychic powers are useless against them and they really, really hurt! That's why they're so... Oh god I hope Jack never learns an attack like that. Otherwise, my days of bashing his head in are numbered...

Where was I? Oh yeah, the blond human. He was breathing hard and saying sorry. I hadn't really been paying attention because I was rubbing my poor sides and staring at the red bite marks. Alexa had run straight to Jack's aid but left me there... Oooh, I hated that Treecko!

"Yeah, anyway, my name's Tim! I just came over here from Sinnoh so I'm going to take on the first Hoenn leader right away! My starter pokémon was a-"

"Stop talking already!" Greg groaned as he returned his Mawile to her pokéball. Unfortunately, the other human _didn't_ stop talking but kept on flapping his gums. It was amazing that he didn't have to stop for breath, especially since he wasn't using telepathy! Then again, Humans couldn't use telepathy in the first place, but that wasn't the point!

"-and that's how I got here! What're your names? I wanna get them in my phone list so that I can call you up and keep you updated with my progress here in Hoenn!"

He pulled out one of those phone things Crescent had used to try and contact his friends back home and held it up, causing both Greg and Alexa to look confused. I had to say, I was confused too... And getting increasingly annoyed. How could this human keep going without listening to anyone else? And that thing, it looked... that phone thing looked _tacky_!

"Forget it! You ruined the double battle and knocked my pokémon into a tree! You could have seriously hurt him!"

"I already apologized about that, no need to have a Miltank..."

_**WHAP**_. It was satisfying to see Alexa hit that kid like that, the red handmark seeming to sting as the blond rubbed his cheek dumbly, "What'd you hit me for?"

"You see kid, she's not a trainer you want to go insulting, whether she's a very good one or not-"

"You're not helping!" Alexa hissed as she kicked Greg's leg, causing him to howl in pain and hop away. I had to wonder, just why did that scenario look so familiar? Stupid comment, person hits the first for making a stupid comment, then there's another stupid comment and more hitting...

Nope. Not making the connection.

"Jeez, Alexa, I was just warning poor Timmy here!" Greg smiled weakly, although he blinked when he saw the aformentioned blonde getting worked up all over again, "Huh? What'd I say?"

"It's_Tim_! My name is Tim, not Timmy! Timmy is a little kid's name!"

"Could have fooled me, you look like you're not even old enough to be a trainer. What d'you carry in that bag, diapers?"

"Why you...! That's it, let's battle right here and now!" Blondie was getting mad now. Whatever a diaper was, it must have been offensive... And, out of no where, I felt Alexa picking me up and I couldn't help but turn to blink at her. What was-

"We'd better sit back and watch this one; There's no stopping two boys from butting heads once they get riled up like this..."

Sadly enough I had to agree; When we got mad, we got mad and had to take it out the only way we knew how. In my case (and apparently Greg's too), it was violently.

"Go, Chimchar!"

"All right Mudkip, you're up!"

I just sat back, thinking that this would be a good show. What greeted my eyes, however, was a flaming monkey-pokémon that smacked it's own rear when it came out. How... vulgar. Really, it was just disgusting, how it was doing that-

Okay, that had _better_ be mud it had in it's hand. Wait, yeah, I saw it pick up the dirt from the ground. Good. Apparently it was some sort of attack, weird, I'd have to learn something like that...

"Mudkip, you use mudslap too!" I blinked as I saw Mudkip obediently blowing out some water onto the ground before using her legs to kick it towards the fire pokémon's eyes as it threw it's own mudball. Trust me, something like both pokémon being blinded by mud was far more entertaining from the sidelines. For once, I was actually glad that I wasn't stuck in the middle of the brawl. Really, I actually don't like fighting all that much... The only one who's fun to hurt is Jack. It's just satisfying, really, especially after he calls me Girlia. He doesn't seem to get the message though, the little idiot...

Where was I? Oh right, the battle.

"Chimchar! Get that mud out of your eyes and use Flame Wheel!"

"Dodge it!"

Okay, I really have to say that it was boring me now, mainly because... Well, if you're not in the battle and it was going slowly like this, wouldn't you get bored too? Anyway, they exchanged attacks for a while, and I had to say I was impressed with Mudkip. She was doing really well against the fire pokémon, listening to Greg's orders with unbelievable confidence... Would I ever trust Alexa enough to do that too?

I looked up at her to see that she was watching the battle too. Intently, she was probably a lot more interested in it than I was. She was going on about some sort of battle coming up, that could have something to do with-

"AGH! MY EYES!"

I stared when I saw my trainer yelp and, while dropping me, she vigorously began to wipe at her eyes to get the dirt out. What had just hurt my trainer?! Oh, they were gonna-

"Sorry! I'm still working on Chimchar's aim!"

"Oiy, Timmy! Concentrate on the battle if you don't wanna lose! Mudkip, use Water Gun now!"

Oh, it was on now. I concentrated on the mass of water that was coming from Mudkip's mouth. It stopped just before it hit Chimchar, causing both pokémon (not to mention all of the Humans) to blink at me. Still, I knew exactly what I had to do now; Chimchar would pay for hurting my trainer!

"_Stand down, Mudkip. This thing is __**mine.**_"

Mudkip looked almost terrified as she stepped back towards Greg, Greg blinking at Mudkip before he stared at me, "Alexa, I think Kirlia wants to fight against Chimchar..."

"All right, let's see what that girly little pokémon can do then! Chimchar, you can take more right?"

"Yessir!" The monkey nodded and said the first coherant thing all day before it cracked it's knuckles, "This is going to be fun! You're going down, girly-man!"

Oh, that was most definitely the last straw. That Chimchar, and his trainer... They were both going to get hurt so badly that they'd wish they'd never been born.

"All right then..." Alexa groaned while she wiped the dirt out of her eyes, still having tears in them but wearing a confident smirk as she pointed a finger forward, "We'll fight and we'll win! Go, Kirlia!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Woot! My first update in such a long time! Luckily, we finally figured out just what was causing my hiatus and, in light of this new fact, I actually can say that there _will_ be more updates in the future! But, until next time, I bid all of the faithful readers a fond farewell and I hope to see you all again soon!


	23. Sound Defeat

**Kirlia's POV**

"We'll fight and we'll win! Go, Kirlia!"

That Chimchar was gonna wish that he had never been born.

"Chimchar! Use Ember!"

Oops, I guess I was getting too lost in the satisfying thought of beating the monkey's head into the ground that I forgot to actually start doing so. Eh heh... Like hell I was going to let the thing hit me! I jumped into the air and let all of the little bullet seed-like flames fly right past me. Not a one hit me! Now, it was my turn; I lifted Chimchar into the air and slammed him into the tree, letting him fall onto Jack. What? It was killing two birds with one stone, even unconscious the Treecko still irks me to no-

"All right Kirlia! Now, use Psywave!"

Psywave? What was that? I blinked at Alexa, and unfortunately monkey-butt seemed to notice that I was distracted. The little cheater punched me when I let my guard down, and trust me did that ever piss me off; not only did it hurt, but it was a cheap shot! I didn't know what the hell 'Psywave' was, like I could use it!

"Jeez, you told it to use Psywave when it didn't know what it was? Amature!" The blond human threw a Meowth call at us before calling out another attack for Chimchar to follow mindlessly, "Now, use Flamethrower!"

Pause. The fire pokémon looked absolutely dumbfounded before he finally turned to the other human and opened his big mouth.

"Trainer, what's Flamethrower?"

Oh, this was rich. I wanted to laugh at the idiocy of this right there, and the blond human was fuming at this point, making the icing on the cake taste all the sweeter. Did I ever love the irony of this moment, though I took advantage of it and threw mud into the monkey's gaping mouth. he didn't really like that, so of course I had him charging at me in a blind rage. Serves him right for using a sucker punch on me.

No, I don't mean that blasted dark-type move Sucker Punch, I mean the actual human term for it.

"Kirlia! Behind you!"

"Eh?" I barely had time to blink and turn around to see Chimchar in my face, looking downright pissed off before he blasted me with fire. Needlessly said, it hurt me enough for me to cry out as I went flying, you guessed it, right into the tree to land ontop of the still unconscious Jack. At least, I thought he was still unconscious until I heard him groaning underneath me, "Gerroff, you're heavy..."

"At last he awakens. My hero," I gave the grass type a flat look before I climbed off of him, letting him wallow in his pain. I'd have to get back to him later, now I still had a butt monkey to crush.

"You fight well, for a girl anyway."

He did _**NOT**_ just say that. If he did, he would have to die. Right now. I mean it, this pokémon has a severe death wish, "_And you're going to __**eat your words**_!"

I quite literally roared the words with a telepathic rage as I felt power burning through me, said power harnessed to suspend the fire pokémon in mid air now. There was yelling everywhere, some of it Alexa's, some Greg's, some belonging to Mudkip, Chimchar and the blond human. I couldn't hear a word of it to be honest, I just knew that the sounds were there. However, what brought me back was the feeling of flames burning onto my front, my throat nearly tearing itself apart from my own screaming.

There was deathly silence around me, my body harshly hitting the grass now. I could feel stinging pain all across my front, probably a sign of a burn, in fact it even hurt to breath, "_Wh-what just hit me...?_"

"Hah! Finally, I brought you down!" The monkey was panting too, obviously exhausted from what I had done to it, but sadly the thing wasn't dead. I'd have to fix that, or at least I would if it didn't hurt too damned much to move. I groaned by accident when I tried to get up to even look at Chimchar, my head crashing against the hard ground again. It hurt... Everything hurt, I was just barely awake, I could feel it... All of the other times I had been knocked out, it had been quick, but this was just becoming painful...

"Return, Chimchar. You did great," There was red to the front of me, a flicker of it before it was gone, "We'll call this one a tie. Battle again when that little girly pokémon learns to control its temper."

_Why that... that..._ It was no use, I was too weak to even look at the blond human now, let alone bash his head into the tree. It hurt so much, I was dizzy, and from my efforts earlier against Mudkip and Masumi as well as fighting the Chimchar... I was probably so exhausted that even breathing was a terribly agonizing chore. Maybe I should have stopped, just so that it wouldn't hurt anymore...

"Kirlia? Hey, Kirlia, are you still awake?"

Blinking my eyes at my trainer, I let my head fall onto her arm as she picked me up. It was all I could do, everything hurt too much for me to do much else. Why did she look so unhappy? No, I didn't want her to be unhappy, it made everything hurt even more. It made me feel even more ashamed that I had lost, especially since I only entered battle to stand up for her after she had been attacked, "Kirlia, you did well. Come on, you need a good long rest. Those burns are going to last a while, you shouldn't participate in the gym battle. Maybe next time, okay?"

"Good call Alexa, after all that the poor pokémon must be exhausted," Jeez, even Greg was caring about me. I wasn't sure whether I was ashamed or embarrassed, maybe they were the same at that point. Either way, everything started to go black then...

Hey, no leaving! I'm not done with you yet, there's more! You've gotta stay while I'm still telling the story, it's rude to leave in the middle of it! Hmph, humans...

Everything started to go black, but that didn't mean it stayed that way. I started to have a weird dream... Kind of like how Jirachi tried to contact me the first time, except I was actually awake for that one. As far as I know, I was resting while this was going on...

Anyway, everything started fading from black to a pinkish colour, everything around me still kind of hazy. I could see three sillhouettes in front of me, but I was helpless; I couldn't move or even speak. Was this a dream? Or was I still too weak from my battle to do anything about where I was and who was there?

Nothing was hurting, and beyond that Jack wasn't around to be an idiot. This had to be a dream, and a good one at that.

"_What about this one, Uxie? Do you think he would aid us in seeking out Manaphy and its offpsring?_"

That voice, it was telepathic. Everything became a little clearer, but the three pokémon around me were still nothing but shadows. Still, I could tell that they were fairly small and, at the moment, having a conference with each other. Almost as if I wasn't there.

"_I do not know, Azelf. The decision to include this little one in our plans to ensnare Manaphy and its offspring is entirely up to Master, you should know that better than I by now._"

"_Well, we saw this little one's temper in battle earlier. He could be a valuable asset-_"

"_You're just saying that so that you don't have to fight anything yourself, Mespirit!_"

"_Am not!_"

"_Are too!_"

"_Silence your bickering! Do you forget that we still trespass in the little one's subconscious?_" The feminine voice, Uxie, spoke out against the two males then, as if suddenly aware that I was there. Or, rather, that I was listening. All three shadows turned towards me, fear building in me as I saw all three pairs of eyes glowing blue, "_Master approaches. We must end this conference and meet with him at the foot of the mountain. Whether or not he and his bretheren will become involved, for now, is out of the question. We release him from our hold... Now._"

Suddenly I was surrounded in darkness again, the shock coaxing a yelp out of me as I looked around frantically. There was no escape, the blackness was suffocating me, overwhelming everything, threatening to swallow me whole...!

"Agh!"

I heaved deep breaths in and out, still unable to move from earlier but completely awake now. I was covered in white things - bandages - from head to toe, the only gaps being around my eyes, nose and mouth. I guess those were left so I could breathe, but it didn't stop everything else on my front from hurting like all hell. I'd take it out on Jack later, but right now, while wallowing in pain... I couldn't help but think about that dream. Manaphy and its offspring? What were those? What were Mespirit, Azelf and Uxie for that matter? Why were they in my dream? And what did it have to do with me...?

"Finally awake, are you? I was wondering when you'd stop with the beauty sleep."

That was an all too familiar voice. "_You... Nhhn..._" I winced as I tried to get up, but failed miserably as I heard his stupid laughter ringing through the room, "_What's so funny?_"

"Nothing, I'm trying to pass the time while working through this head ache. Not even Sitruses hit me this hard," Finally, a groan and a complaint out of him. Served him right, I thought, but at the same time I think I would rather have that other pokémon going through this suffering rather than Jack. Yes, I really did hate the Chimchar more than I hated Jack, Jack at least knew when to quit while he was getting the shit beaten out of him. Not to mention he can't throw fire. Fire hurts.

"When you're done daydreaming, can you tell me why you started to float while you were actually dreaming? You looked like you were possessed by a ghost pokémon or something."

I couldn't even turn my head to give Jack a flat look, but that didn't stop me from responding anyway. With telepathy, using my real voice still hurt too much, "_It's none of your business. Sod off, Treecko._"

"There's no where to sod off too or I would gladly, Girlia."

Even if it hurt like all hell, I would never get tired of bashing Jack's head into hard things. Especially when he deserved it. I passed out again after that though, and let's face it; I needed the rest.

Okay,_ now_ you can go. I'm done.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Jack's POV**

Bloody Girlia! He didn't have to bash me into the ceiling, and why would he do that anyway? I thought he was too hurt to use his powers!

... Huh, looked like he really was too. He passed out right after doing that, the sensitive little bugger. Ah well, I guessed I'd have to entertain myself some other way. But how? I already slept (had some bloody creepy dream involing something named a Manaphy too), woke up and waited around for a few minutes for Girlia to come too. Now, even after calling him Girlia and getting bashed, I was freaking _bored_. And, what was worse, all I had to think about now was this bloody head ache I had, now even worse thanks to a certain psycho psychic. You all know the one.

"Hey. You doing okay?"

Mudkip jumped onto the table I was resting on, blinking at me while doing so. I couldn't help but sigh, now she was going to bitch and whine about how stupid I- "You shouldn't be awake or even try to move around yet, Jack. You got hit pretty hard, so take it easy."

Not quite what I had been expecting, but it was a pleasant reaction to recent events coming from Mudkip. In fact I preferred this one over the one I had predicted, "Eh, whatever. If you've been beaten on the head by Kirlia, I doubt some stupid human's gonna do much worse to me."

"Your trainer was really worried about you. I think you got hit harder than usual," Mudkip sighed and allowed her tail to hang over the edge of the tail, looking almost depressed now as she looked at me, "... I don't think mine would ever be _that_ worried about me. I'm not close enough to him..."

"And I don't think you should start with the sappy stuff on me, I'm too bloody tired and irritated for it. Unless you come back with an alcoholic berry or drink don't talk to me," With that I rolled over, hearing her sigh before the sound of feet hitting the floor hit my ears. Good, she was leaving, meaning that I could be a little prat all in my sulking...

Wait, that didn't come out right... Ah well. She probably wasn't too offended, right?

And yet, I couldn't help but have the feeling that this was going to bite me painfully in the arse later... But, it wasn't affecting me now, meaning I could finally have a half-way decent rest for the first time in only Mew knows how long. _Finally..._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"_Master, are you certain we should involve these pokémon? They have a strong resemblance of the resiliance your enemies in the Kanto region have shown against you before._"

Four darkened figures were gathered around an invisible sphere as they conversed in the cover of night, a way to be sure that they would not be discovered by unwanted guests. Namely those mentioned in their conversation, although the local wildlife wasn't exactly a welcome population at the moment either. Silence, pure and unbroken, fell onto the pokémon as they all turned onto the only pokémon who was different; a slightly larger pokémon lacking a long and elegant tail. It radiated an elegance of its own, however, as well as a mystical power the others could feel; one that announced its authority over them as well as its wisdom and age.

"_No, I am not. In fact, I am against your suggestions, Azelf and Mespirit. We must gain the trust of Manaphy and its offspring on our own if we want my plans to go forward as I see fit. There is no room for change at this point._"

"_And if they were to encounter Manaphy and its offspring before us, Master? Surely it is an improbable circumstance, but nonetheless we must prepare a back up plan to take care of them!_"

"_Fearful Mespirit, you have no reason to feel intimidated by these... adversaries. I already have plans for them and their demises... Well, at least the demise of one key pokémon. Think of it as revenge against a friend who happens to be looking after his cousin._"

The three weaker figures shuddered as the strongest's malevolent laughter chilled the night air further, invisible winds taking away what little warmth the darkness had to offer. It took a moment for the different one to realize that he was becoming side tracked by his visions, clearing his throat with authority before speaking again, "_Ho-Oh has roosted in Hoenn. Her plans co-encide with mine, therefore there is no reason for me to even try to make her see things my way; she already does, after all._"

"_Sheer brilliance, Master!_"

"_Flattery will get you no where Azelf, I want results. Come back to me within two weeks; by then, I want Manaphy and its offspring brought to me so that I may speak with them personally. Understood?_"

"_Yes, Master!_" The three voices rung in unison before their owners disappeared into the night, the fourth allowing silence to absorb him only for mere moments. His eyes peered around before he allowed a light to appear in his hand, images of what his future would look like being moulded in front of him as a human psychic would ideally see in a crystal ball. His cackling almost froze his surroundings before he too disappeared, his last voice lingering in the area where he and his three devoted servants had conversed so soon previously;

"_You think you can abandon me and get away unscathed? This is only the beginning; You will soon see the full extent of my revenge, 'mother of all creation'!_"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Yeah, I know, this update took a long time, again, but at least it's up, right? Well, still, thanks to you all for taking the time to read, and I know the last section never had a point of view labelled; it was meant to be presented like that. Also, you probably won't know who 'Master' is unless you read the other two stories in this network, **Anomaly** by **Dark Magician Girl Aeris** and **Tales of Flame** by **Buwaro**! So, if you haven't already, go read them! With that shameless plugging, I bid my dear readers adieu with a promise of the next chapter to come soon!


	24. Snuggles

**Houndour's POV**

"Mudkip? Are you all right?"

Something seemed wrong with the pokémon in front of me. I couldn't quite put my paw on it, but she seemed... Well, she looked like she was depressed. Why else would she just sit in front of the window and stare into space? Pokémon (well, most pokémon) only did that when they were thinking about something depressing. At least, from my experiences that's what they did, it was what I always did. Always, even since I was freed...

"No... Well, yes," I blinked when she changed her answer so quickly, but right now it was probably a good idea to simply listen, "It's just that... Ever since Greg and I started travelling with Jack and Alexa, well... I've seen that girl risk her life for the sake of the pokémon she trains. I don't think Greg has ever done that..."

I frowned when she had said that; how could she think that her trainer didn't care? Mudkip's trainer... That boy never made her do anything she didn't want to, as far as I could tell. She was lucky; I had been forced to do dark, dark things under Master's... Former master's... Rule, "I don't see why you should be upset, Mudkip. He simply hasn't been given the chance to show that sort of devotion; There are human trainers who couldn't care less about the lives of their pokémon, but I think your trainer isn't that sort of human. The kind who doesn't care, that is."

She was looking at me strangely when I had finished, and that alone almost made me belive I had said something offensive... Right up until she spoke to me again, "I guess you're right. But I can't help it... I'm a bit jealous of Jack and Kirlia. And you, she talks about you endlessly from what I've heard."

"Huh? Master does?"

"Mhm. I remember when Greg used to do that... He'd brag to whoever he met about us; Masumi and I were his first pokémon," Mudkip seemed to be going into a bit of a daze then, as if remembering something fond. Sister always yelled whenever I did that...

"Hey, what's that pokémon doing over there?"

"Is it retarded or something?"

"Who cares? It's a differently coloured pokémon! Those are really, really rare!"

What were they talking about? Mudkip blinked out of her daze and looked at a point behind us, and it was obvious just what she was looking at; There was a small blue rabbit-like pokémon hopping through the sliding glass doors of the Pokémon Center, waiting until the doors almost closed before making them open by going to the other side. Was this supposed to be amusing?

I didn't get it.

"Hey, I'm gonna battle it!"

"No way, I saw it first!"

"Back off, this thing is rare so it's gonna be mine!"

"Hands off of my Nidoran! Go, pokéball!"

All of the humans in the center began to swarm around the Pokémon (one of them had called it a Nidoran, so that was probably the name of its species) and several pokéballs went flying into the air. What was even more unbelievable than the greed of the humans was that the Nidoran got out of the pile without a scratch on him, or without the humans noticing him for that matter. For greed to blind humans so much…

"Houndour, it's heading for us! Come on!"

Mudkip had started dragging me out of the way as the Nidoran ran right by us, one of the humans finally noticing that it had escaped and chased after it, soon followed by the rest. Nidoran didn't seem like it was having fun anymore, it looked terrified...

"Mudkip, I think we should go after..." I didn't even get a chance to finish speaking before Mudkip raced off after the group, trying to catch up with the other pokémon before something serious happened to it. She was depressed earlier, but after seeing her race to help another pokémon, even if she didn't know it...

Perhaps, one day, I would be that brave and kind, as well.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Alexa's POV**

"What the hell is going on out there?"

"I think a wild pokémon wandered into the center. It looks like every trainer here is trying to catch it!"

Wild pokémon? What kind of pokémon was stupid enough to wander right into the middle of a Pokémon Center? I yawned and got up, rubbing my eyes a bit. Greg was already dressed and ready, causing me to blink at him when he turned to me once again, "Just stay in bed for a bit. I'm gonna see if I can get those trainers to leave the poor pokémon alone."

"I'm fine, you jerk. Don't think I'm not coming-"

"So you don't mind coming after a wild pokémon in your pajamas."

"No, as a matter of fact, I don't," Man, that guy was getting on my nerves! I glared at him and hopped straight out of bed after he left the room, grabbing my bag and everything I'd need. Jack would be in for one hell of a wake up call, since I couldn't use Kirlia. He was still too badly burned from earlier, stupid butt-monkey pokémon...

But, unfortunately, by the time I got out there, it was over. There were a lot of trainers with frowns on their faces, and (just my luck) Greg was holding a shaking pokéball in his hand, "Aw man, you caught it already?"

"That's the weird thing. It just sort of jumped towards my belt and hit the empty pokéball before going inside," Greg looked at me and shrugged, shrinking the pokéball back to normal before talking again, "It was a male Nidoran. A blue one."

"What's so special about a blue Nidoran?"

"Males are normally a dark pink, it's the females that are blue. This little guy is an oddball; the colour of his fur makes him extremely rare."

"Smart ass..."

"Hey, knowing this stuff comes with being the son of a well known Pokémon Professor," I blew a raspberry at him after he said that, watching the other trainers clear out of the area while doing so. So that was what everyone was after... But I didn't get it. Why was everyone going crazy just because its fur was a different colour? It was still a pokémon, and though it'd be cool to own a rare pokémon... It was just an ordinary pokémon like any other, right? _Poor thing, having all of that unwanted attention..._

I snapped out of my thoughts when Greg let the Nidoran out of his pokéball, said Nidoran blinking up at me before turning to Greg and hugging his leg. Admittedly... That was adorable. Yes, I'm letting my girly side take over on this one, but I couldn't help it! It was just so... So cute!

"Aww, he likes you Greg!"

"Shut up if you know what's good for you, this is a lot more painful than it looks..."

"But he's your pokémon! Oooh, you should give him a nickname! How about Snuggles?"

I didn't know how, nor did I even want to know, but the Nidoran looked up at me with really, really big eyes then. Greg's eyes also widened when he realized what had just happened; the Nidoran had taken on a nickname. Its new name was Snuggles.

I'm not entirely sure what happened first, Greg accusing me of giving the Nidoran a stupid name or me falling onto my ass laughing over it. Either way, it ended up with me being chased around the building by Greg (and me still laughing over it, it's funny damn it), "Hey! It's not my fault the Nidoran actually went for the nickname!"

"It is so your fault, you suggested it!" Wow, was he ever mad. He'd get over it though, eventually... About the same time he'd eventually forgive me for getting us kicked out of the Pokémon Center, since that was exactly what happened. Nurse Joy ended up escorting us out (and throwing our stuff out behind us), saying that we were causing too much of a fuss.

"Great, just great. Crazy Lexi got us into yet another mess..." Greg was groaning at me, and later I'd apologize for this, but right now... That nickname he just gave me was too much.

"Hey, the stupid nickname isn't my fault! You didn't give Nidoran a nickname before so that's why it clung onto that one! The pokémon's a retard or something!"

"Stop picking on Snuggles, this _is_ your fault!"

"Greg?"

"What?"

"You just called him Snuggles."

I laughed at him again when he realized just what he had said, and again when Snuggles came over and pounced on him to cuddle him again. Houndour and Mudkip just watched us but I didn't care, this was way too funny! But... It stopped being funny when Greg finally fell over and seemed to pass out, "Uhm... Are you okay there? Greg? Wake up, this isn't the time to joke around! ... Greg?"

The Pokémon Center let up on our temporary ban to treat Greg for the poison. The stupid Nidoran had actually forgotten to put away his horns so, of course...

"That Nidoran should wear a warning sign. Danger! Hugging may cause death!"

"Shut up..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Jack's POV**

"Nhhn... The humans got us kicked out of the Pokémon Center."

"Yep."

"And then they let them back in because the rabbit thing poisoned whitey."

"Yep."

"And I was asleep for all of this?"

"Uh huh."

"Damn, I'm always asleep for all the best stuff," I sighed a little after hearing the explanation from Mudkip, but at the same time I couldn't help but grin. Just when I thought things were going to be dull, something like this happened. Trust me, it was moments like this that made travelling with humans worth my time. That and Girlia bashing, but we won't go there right now.

It'll come later, promise. I'll never get tired of bastardizing that frilly little thing he wears. I don't care if he says it's part of his skin, it looks like a skirt and I'm going to beat the hell out of the joke until-

Hm, wait, would there ever be a reason to stop?

"Hey, Snuggles is coming over. I guess we can-" Mudkip paused when the other pokémon walked straight past her and sat down in front of me, looking up at me with big, red eyes. Why the bloody hell was it staring at me? Did it think it was part of the poképolice interrogation squad?

I made that up just now. Clever, no?

"Can I help you with something?" Finally I asked the other a question, if for no other reason than to break the silence. Unfortunately, the pokémon didn't seem to know the meaning of the word 'ice breaker'. It just kept staring, and staring, and staring, and – okay I think you get the idea at this point. Either way, it was getting, for lack of better terms, creepy.

"Is there anyone home in that empty head of yours?"

"No one lives in my head!"

"Oh-kay..." Well, that was a weird response. I think the joke actually flew right over this pokémon's... Waitaminute, I knew there was something strange about this pokémon. What the hell kind of idiot pokémon would walk right into a Pokémon Center full of greedy trainers when it damned well knew it was different from all the others?

"Mudkip... I think we have a retard on our hands."

"Jack, why would you-"

"I'm not trying to insult him, don't you start," I hissed at Mudkip when it seemed like she was going to tell me off, I had enough of the lectures for one day, "Oiy, uhm… Snuggles, was it? Do you want to go flying?"

"Do I ever!" The rabbit pokémon started bouncing excitedly on the spot, wide-eyed and anticipating the feeling of flight. Mudkip just stared at me in disbelief, but I would prove that this thing was a retard yet. Really, if she didn't know how stupid this thing was then she was just as stupid as Snuggles. And, trust me, I didn't want that to happen, or the only intelligent life I would have to communicate with would be Girlia.

And, trust me, that scenario is a lot worse than it sounds.

"Okay Snuggles, stand on your head! If you do that long enough, wings will grow out of your back and you'll be able to fly!"

"Right!" Without a second thought Snuggles was standing on his head, Mudkip now staring at him before looking back to me.

"Wow... You're right."

"Aren't I always?" I smirked a little before looking at Snuggles again, "Snuggles the Retardoran. Well, this journey just got a lot more interesting."

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Sorry that this update took so long! I can't go into it but a lot of stuff has been going on (including the possibility of me playing as Pika in the upcoming Tales of Flame Audio Drama! Check out Buwaro's profile for more details), and that hasn't left me with time, energy or inspiration to write. Mainly inspiration. Yeah, I suck, but as you read this I'm already working on a chapter 25 for Hoenn Chronicles, so stay tuned! I am going to end this writer's block even if it kills me! ... Which it just might, but you never know. Toodles!


	25. Battle for the Badge

Hey everyone! Yes, I know, scary. Two updates in one day. I told you I was determined to get rid of writer's block, and I meant it. So, without me blathering on any further, **Chapter 25; Battle for the Badge**!

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**Alexa's POV**

"Wake up! Come on, don't make me actually come in there and get you!"

"You're lively for someone who just got poisoned..."

"This is serious, you've got to wake up!"

"What the hell is so important that it has to wake me up at eight in the morning...?"

"Alexa, your gym battle's supposed to start in fifteen minutes!"

"_What_!? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" Oh no, I was going to be late for my battle with Roxanne! I ended up scrambling to pack all of my stuff and get my clothes on before I raced out of the door, running right past Greg and to the counter, "Nurse Joy! Are my pokémon good enough to battle?"

"Well, your Kirlia is still recovering from his burns from yesterday..." Oh no, was she serious? I couldn't battle Roxanne... "But, your Treecko and Houndour are in top shape, so they should do just-"

"Thanks!" I didn't bother sticking around to hear what Nurse Joy was going to say and took my pokéballs, racing out the door and onto the city streets. Of course, it was only then I realized...

I had absolutely no idea where Rustboro Gym was.

"Alexa! Damn girl, you run fast," Greg ran up behind me, breathing hard before he straightened out, "What's the matter? I thought we were heading to the gym!"

"I... Don't know where the gym is," Aw man, of all people I had to admit this to him. What made things worse was that he started laughing at me for it!

"Come on, I'll show you. It hasn't been _that_ long since I battled Roxanne..."

After what seemed like ages, we had walked around and ended up right back up at the front of the Pokémon Center.

"Remind me never to trust you for directions again."

"Okay, it has been a while. We'll get there in time for your battle!"

"I'm already late because of you!"

"Excuse me, it's _your_ fault for sleeping in so late!"

"You said you were going to help me! All you've been doing is getting in the way, you conceited-"

"Pardon my intrusion, but are you two lost?"

I blinked and looked at the guy who had butted into the fight, stopping to get a good look at him. He was... Oh god, Dad would kill me for having thoughts like this, but he was _hot_. There was something strangely familiar about him though... Tall guy, probably about eighteen or so, silvery hair, a deep voice... It was the voice that got to me, where had I heard it before...

"No, we're doing just-"

"Yes, we're lost and we need some help! Can you tell us where Rustboro Gym is?" Immediately I clamped a hand over Greg's mouth, hearing him protest through this. Had to laugh over him to cover up whatever the hell he was saying, he was ruining my chances!

The guy just smiled and pointed over to our right, and when I looked...

"Uhm, wow, I feel stupid. Thanks a lot mister-"

"Steven. Steven Stone. It's nice to meet you, uhm... May I please have your names as well?" Oh screw where I heard this guy before, he was just so...

"Thanks, Steven, we've gotta be going now! Bye!" Greg had started dragging me away from the total heart-throb... Hottie... Dream Boat... Is there any description I can use that _won't_ get me in trouble with Dad? Probably not.

"What the hell were you doing back there? You were drooling all over that guy worse than you usually do over food!"

"Shut up! I was just asking him where the gym was!"

"Sure, sure, and Snuggles can fly."

As if on cue Snuggles hopped out of his pokéball and landed on Greg's face, hugging him while Greg yelped and began trying to pry the pokémon off. Hah! Served him right...

Oh right! "Come on, we've gotta get into the gym!" I dragged Greg with me through the big doors of the Rustboro Gym and towards the platform, a teenager with long, brown pigtails blinking at us as we ran in, "S-sorry I'm late! I really want to battle you, Roxanne!"

"Ah, you're not late. You're just in time, challenger," Roxanne smiled at us as she went to the far end of the platform, me taking my place at the side closest to me as I heard the referee begin to talk.

"This will be a two on two pokémon battle! Our Gym Leader, Roxanne, will be facing the Challenger... Uhm..."

"Alexa, from Littleroot Town!" Geez, this was insulting. The guy didn't even know my name...

"Right. Alexa, from Littleroot Town. Only the challenger can substitute pokémon during the match, and whoever has the last pokémon standing will be the decided victor! Pokémon can be disqualified from the battle either when they are incapable of battling any further or if they are thrown out of the arena's boundry lines! As the challenger, Alexa will pick her pokémon first!"

"All right!" This was it. I was really going into my very first gym battle! I could feel the blood rushing hot through me as I enlarged a pokéball from my belt, throwing it into the air and calling out the name of my first pokémon, "Go, Houndour!"

In a flash I could see Houndour landing on the ground, seeming a little disoriented as I caught the pokéball again. This wasn't training anymore though, and that meant we had to battle at our best if we wanted to stand a chance against Roxanne...

"Well, that's interesting. A fire type being used in a rock type gym. That pokémon had better be strong if you want to stand a chance against me, rookie," Roxanne smirked as she enlarged a pokéball of her own, throwing it into the air and calling out the name of her pokémon as well, "Geodude, come on out!"

Bright light surrounded the other pokémon before it shook it off, flexing its muscles at us and growling its own name. I didn't even know that rock type pokémon _could_ flex their own muscles, it was almost creepy how real it looked.

"Let the battle begin!"

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**Houndour's POV**

I had just been released from my pokéball, and moments later a Geodude was released before me. This scenario was familiar, and unlike the several battles I faced before I was almost looking forward to this. This wasn't a battle of life and death, nor was it a battle of vengeance. No... This was a test of strength, stamina, speed, endurance...

A gym battle.

"Let the battle begin!"

"Houndour, use Howl!"

Howl. That was a familiar move. I could feel my fur bristling when I tilted my head back up and roared as loudly as I could, strength and adrenaline pouring through me while I did so. This wasn't at all like the battles former master and Sister forced me into. No... I felt alive, and powerful, like I never had before. I had a feeling that I would enjoy this battle...

"Geodude, Defence Curl! Then Rollout!"

The other human's voice rung through my Howl, the boulder-like pokémon obeying her command by rolling into a ball and staying still for a mere moment. Then, it started rolling swiftly towards me, I knew this attack too well. I had to dodge all five attacks if I wanted to make it through...

My trainer, my new master, had said something but I didn't pay attention. Getting out of the way seemed more important at the moment, but the other pokémon was really, really fast. In fact, I wasn't able to dodge the second bout and yelped when I was hit. Even if it was only the second of five runs, it was painful...

"Houndour! Listen to me! Use Ember to slow down Geodude!"

I blinked at my trainer, right before jumping to dodge the next attack. Ember, it wouldn't be strong enough to stop Rollout, especially not now...

But I knew an attack that could.

It took a second, and the attack almost didn't make it in time to stave off the blow. However, I managed to build enough energy to attack the Geodude with a flamethrower, causing its rolling to slow down until it came to a stop in front of me.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the other pokémon had been prepared for this.

Its granite hands grabbed my sides and slammed me into the ground, and did that ever hurt. I yelped when I was slammed onto my back, but not because of pain alone. It brought up a memory...

"_**Get up, little brother! Get up and fight me! You won't survive without me if you can't stand on your own!**__"_

"_**But... Sister...**__"_

"_**Quit whining! We'll never survive without mother and father if you don't get up and fight! And stop calling me sister, I have a name you know!**__"_

"_**I'm sorry, sis-**_"

"_**Use my name! You can't rely on me anymore if you wish to survive! Don't be pathetic and cowardly or you'll end up dead!**__"_

_I stared up at my sister's eyes, so full of fury and rage. And yet, I could see what she was trying to do. She was helping me stand, to become strong. She wanted nothing more than for me to be able to live on my own, back then... Before..._

_Before..._

Geodude's rocky fist collided with the side of my face then, snapping me out of my thoughts and bringing me back to the battle before me. What was I...?

"Houndour, snap out of it! Use Smog!"

Oh, I was still in battle. Right. I forced the poisonous gas to surge from my mouth and I took cover in it, now relying on my nose to find the other pokémon in all of the smoke. It wasn't hard, identifying Geodude in the cloud of my attack, but I had a rather nasty surprise coming to me; the moment I got in front of Geodude, I could hear the other human trainer giving Geodude an order for an attack I knew I could not dodge or defend against.

"Geodude, use Self-Destruct!"

It was without warning that the other pokémon began to shine brilliantly, the massive burst of sheer power hitting me right in the front and sending me tumbling off of the platform and onto the ground. Everything hurt, but I had to get up and fight. I had to...

"Geodude is no longer able to battle! Houndour has been knocked out of the arena! Double-knock out!"

What did that mean? I jumped back onto the platform, but just as I landed I heard my trainer speaking to me again, "Houndour, it's okay. You've done great, but you can't battle anymore right now. Take a rest, okay?"

I didn't even get a chance to ask why before I was sucked back into my pokéball, the familiar surroundings of my home forming in front of me. I didn't get it. I was weak, but I could still fight, couldn't I?

Maybe... I couldn't. Like my sister and my former master before her, my new master deemed me too weak to fight anymore. I was useless... I was unnecessary. The thought made my stomach turn over a couple of times before, once again, a memory of my past decided to present itself to me.

"_**Look, you're still just a pup. But I want you to grow up big and strong so that someday, when I'm not there to look out for you anymore, you can do it for yourself okay? I want you to be able to beat me someday!**__" Sister's teeth were bared at me when she said that, right before her smile turned gentle and compassionate towards me, "__**But, until then, I'll be here to take care of you. Promise me that, until you're ready, you'll never leave my side.**__"_

"_**I promise, Sister... I mean... I promise, Acadia. I will not leave until I am ready to face and defeat you.**__"_

"_**You'd better not. I'll be really mad at you if you do!**__"_

_Sister... I'm sorry for not keeping my promise to you..._

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**Alexa's POV**

"Well, it looks like I have no choice now," I couldn't help but sigh when I returned Houndour to his pokéball. Can you really blame me? My most reliable pokémon had just been knocked out, and my strongest was currently resting in the pokémon center. That only left one choice...

"What are you waiting for, rookie? Send out your next pokémon to battle, unless you're forfeiting right now!"

"As if!" I immediately spat back at Roxanne when she said that, feeling a bit of anger boiling up at the comment. I wouldn't ever give up, not even if it took me a hundred battles against her! I would win that badge!

"We don't have all day, Alexa! Hurry up and release him!"

"I know already, shut up!" Greg really wasn't helping, but right now... As reluctant as I was, I really had no other choice. _Please, let him listen to me just this once..._

"It's time to fight, Jack! Come on out!"

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Too bad, I'm ending it there! I'm just glad to have my writing spark back personally, and I have to have somewhere to start off on for the next chapter right? Right. So, read, review, and stay tuned for the upcoming and highly anticipated chapter 26!


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